


Save Me

by jordanpf93



Series: Save Me [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Even Lance’s Family Knows, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gay, Gay Keith (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) Being an Asshole, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Keith was a foster child, Lance (Voltron) Being a Little Shit, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Harm, Slow Burn, broganes, i tagged everyone but really it’s only Lance and Keith, lance is oblivious, so is keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-06-20 17:03:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 60,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15538932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jordanpf93/pseuds/jordanpf93
Summary: Lance’s mom comes to visit and finds out Keith is alone, she invites him to come stay with them for the holidays. Lance is pissed because Keith has been lying to him about his family. Chaos ensues.





	1. Chew With Your Mouth Closed

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first ever Fanfiction!  
> Give me your feedback! :)

“Harder.”

“Shut up, Lance.”

“Come onnnn. Harderrrrr.”

“Shut UP, Lance.”

“HARDERRRR.”

“KNOCK IT OFF, LANCE.” Keith finally snapped, hurling his Xbox controller across the room. He groaned as he heard the distinct cracking of the plastic breaking. “Goddamnit.”

“Well, geez, mullet. You didn’t have to yell.” Lance said, feigning innocence. “Have you considered anger management? I think it might help release some of that pent-up aggression.”

“The only pent up aggression I have lately is not killing you.” Keith retorted, swatting him away.

Lance let out a ridiculous sounding scream, looking scandalized. “Estoy siendo atacado!”

Keith stood abruptly, stalking across the room.

“Where ya going, buddy?”

“Away from you.” Keith said curtly, stalking over to his door and slamming it behind him. With his back to the now locked door, Keith took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly to try and slow his racing heart. He didn’t know how Lance did it, but his roommate was the only person that could get him from calm to murder levels of anger this fast. Two years of being roommates and Lance’s ridiculous jokes, singing in the shower, inability to do laundry or just clean in general and Keith gave himself an immense pat on the back for not killing him yet. It was a fucking miracle.

“Ven a celebrar sigue tu deseo de bailar.  
Ven a celebrar, que bailando puedes celebrar…”

Keith let out another groan and Lance continued to belt out lyrics from a Jennifer Lopez song that he couldn’t understand. He flopped himself on his bed, grabbing his phone and headphones so that he could treat himself to something that was a little more his taste.

As the sound of Green Day began to fill his mind, Keith attempted to drift off into sleep.

Knock, knock, knock.

Keith ignored the sound.

Knock, knock, knock.

Keith rolled over, shoving his head under his pillow.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.

“WHAT.” Keith snapped. Ripping his headphones out of his ears, he scowled as one of the earbud covers bounced under his bed. Making a mental note to come back for it later, he unlocked the door, cracking it in the thinnest of margins from the doorframe. “Yes?” Keith asked.

“Lance’s delivery service, at your service!” Lance exclaimed cheerfully as he brandished a McDonald’s bag full of what Keith assumed was the only thing he ever ate from that wretched excuse of a restaurant. “Ten-piece chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce aaaaand! A chocolate milkshake.”

“Oh…” Keith said, now kind of feeling like an asshole. “Thanks, Lance.” He opened his door wider and Lance traipsed in, seating himself on Keith’s rickety desk chair.

“De nada, mi amigo!” Lance replied, handing him the bag with gusto.

“Where’s yours?” Keith asked, curiously, now aware that Lance was only bearing food for him.

“Eh, I wasn’t that hungry.” Lance said. Keith could tell he was lying, Lance was always hungry. He and Hunk were always eating, finding new restaurants and trying new recipes. Which was one thing that Keith appreciated about Lance. Until he remembered that Lance also never did the dishes and almost never had money. So, Keith ended up cleaning up after him and the group took turns paying for him. They might not always get along, but he wasn’t so inhumane that he would let the man starve. Still, the thought made Keith uneasy. For someone who worked all the time when he wasn’t going to class, Lance very rarely seemed to have much money.

Lance broke the silence, pulling Keith from his thoughts as he shoved a nugget into his mouth.

“How is it?” Lance asked, genuinely concerned.

“Is gud” Keith garbled out through a mouthful of chewed up chicken.

“As my mother would say, “Mastica con la boca cerrada!”” Lance said, “No crie a un salvaje!”

Keith shifted into a more relaxed position as he took a sip from the milkshake, the richness of it satisfying his belly. “I have no idea what you just said.”

“I said enjoy your meal.” Lance said innocently, laughing.

“Why don’t I believe you?” Keith asked, smirking.

“Because, Mullet, your trust issues are unrivaled.” Lance said before standing and dipping into a bow. “And also, because I said chew with your mouth closed, you’re not a savage.” Lance laughed, darting out of the open door as Keith hurled a pillow in his direction. It bounced harmlessly into the doorway and Keith flopped down on his bed as he inhaled his last three chicken nuggets. Lance was going to be the death of him.

**************************************************************************

Lance felt his phone ring as he sank into the couch cushions. His heart skipped when he saw the caller ID. “Hola, Mama.” He said cheerfully.


	2. The Me Nobody Knows

Lance spent the next few days rarely leaving his room. He had his normal, every day interactions with Keith but generally avoided excessive unnecessary contact with anyone in the group. Go to class, go home. That was his plan, at least until he processed what was going on. He had no real desire to divulge any information. Not to Hunk, not to Pidge, especially not Keith.

Lance noticed that Keith seemed generally unbothered by Lance's sudden change in personality. Keith noticed, but was too uncomfortable to broach Lance’s silence. They might have lived together for a couple of years now, but that and sharing friends was as close as the two were and Keith was okay with that.

Lance could barely get out of bed. All he could think about was his mother. His sister and brothers. He wanted nothing more than to drop everything and go home to them, but his mama had insisted.

“No, papito, your education is too important. I will not let you put it on hold for me.” His mother shouted down all protests after the fact and then promptly refused to say another word about it.

“Lance, buddy?” Lance heard Hunk knocking gingerly on the door. Lance decided not to respond. The knock sounded again, Lance just didn’t know how to deal. But he made a deal with himself for tomorrow. He would get out of bed and be his normal self. Then, no one would ever know.

************************************

Lance got up the next morning feeling refreshed. He showered as leisurely as possible, singing Bailando at the top of his lungs and dancing as he poured soup onto his louffa. He spent the next twenty-five minutes singing into the shower head and as he ended his rendition of When Doves Cry, he heard Keith banging on the door.

"Lance! Hurry the fuck up! We have class in fifteen minutes!" Keith shouted through the door.

"Fuck" Lance muttered to himself. "Slow your roll, princess Keith, I'll be out in a minute!"

Lance hurried out of the bathroom, quickly wrapping a towel around his waist, securing it as he used a second towel to dry his hair. Walking from the bathroom to his bedroom, he quickly grabbed a pair of bright blue and green boxer briefs, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. As he pulled his t-shirt over his head his phone began to ring. From the bathroom.

"Shit!" he exclaimed as he sprinted towards the bathroom. 

"Lance, I got your phone." Keith called, walking into the bathroom.

"No! Don't answer-aghhh!" Lance screeched in pain as he tripped over a chair.

Keith raced from the bathroom in time to see Lance crack his head against the corner of the wooden table and hit the ground, motionless. “Fuck!” Keith exclaimed, “Lance, Lance, can you hear me? Come on, man.” He pulled his phone out quickly, dialing 911. The conversation with the operator was short and he was assured that an ambulance would arrive within minutes. He glanced at Lance’s phone, contemplating calling Lance’s mother. Not seeing a better option, he clicked the call button and waited for Lance’s mother to pick up.

”Hola, Papito-“ Lance’s mother began cheerfully. She was abruptly cut off by Keith explaining to her what had happened and her response was that she would be on her way, as soon as possible.

Now, all Keith could do was wait until the ambulance arrived.


	3. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I've been playing around with chapter length and I'm gonna make them longer. Let me know what you guys think!

The ride to the hospital was quick and Keith called Hunk and Pidge to let them know what was going on with Lance. Lance was still unconscious, but the paramedics worked quickly to stabilize him. Keith had some apprehension about Lance's mother making an appearance at the hospital, but he convinced himself that it was what Lance would want. He would want his family close to him.

Keith was pacing around the family waiting area waiting for the update on Lance's condition when Hunk and Pidge showed up. No one said anything and Keith didn't really know how break the silence. Hunk and Pidge were closer to Lance than he was, which Keith pummeled himself mentally for. He lived with the man for two years. Why didn't he know him better? Keith shook those thoughts away. Lance was obnoxious, sure, but Keith didn't want bad things to happen to him.

"Keith?" Pidge said, grabbing his hand to stop him from pacing in circles.

"Yeah?" Keith said, keeping his eyes trained on the floor.

"Are you okay?" she asked, attempting to coax Keith into making eye contact with her. Keith resisted the attempt, instead looking around at the plain, unadorned walls of the hospital. He took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the room, all antiseptic and...hospital. He took another deep breath before trying to respond, but words failed him. "He's going to be fine, Keith. This isn't your fault."

"I know it's not my fault. He's an idiot." Keith mumbled.

"I mean, yeah." Pidge said, "But seriously. This was an accident, he slipped in his own puddle. Just think of this as an opportunity to make endless fun of him when he wakes up."

They all laughed at that thought. Keith sat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs, his hands gripping his knees. He toyed with the frayed edges of the holes in the knees while Hunk and Pidge settled into conversation about what adventure they were going to go on when they got home. Keith wasn't sure how he felt about this whole situation. But the thoughts that had started rolling around in his head were disconcerting. It was a good thing Lance's mother was coming because Keith didn't think he could bear being alone with Lance in the apartment after this. And he really had no interest in waiting on Lance hand and foot either. Especially because it kind of felt like he did already.

The doctor finally arriving pulled Keith out of his thoughts, much to his relief.

"Lance is going to be just fine." Doctor Wallace said calmly. "He suffered a moderate concussion and is going to have to take it easy for a couple of weeks, but other than that, he'll make a full recovery. He's awake if you'd like to see him now."

Keith breathed a sigh of relief at these words, but knew that now he was going to do exactly what he didn't want to be doing. Taking care of Lance. Hunk and Pidge jumped up immediately, following the doctor to Lance's room, but Keith couldn't bring himself to go. He knew he wasn't really the comforting type and he didn't want to upset Lance with his presence. No, he was content to wait outside. At least until his mother arrived.

When Mama Mcclain arrived, Keith could tell right away who she was. She had the same tan skin and dark hair, though hers contained a considerable amount of grey. Lance had her nose and cerulean eyes. But mostly he could tell in the way that she carried herself. Open and full of personality.  
Keith envied that, but guilt overtook that feeling and he shoved it down.

"Where is Lance? Where is my baby?" she said, a mildly frantic, but completely motherly tone coloring her voice. She looked at Keith expectantly as she adjusted her brightly colored green and blue shawl.

"Um.." Keith said. "He's in room 203." Keith felt awkward just standing there with Lance's mother. He had no idea how to handle these types of situations in the slightest.

"You're Keith, yes?" the woman said, appraising him.

"Yes." he said, awkwardly shuffling his feet while looking down at them.

"Thank you so much for calling me." Rosa said. "Walk with me?" Keith's cheeks flushed light pink at the request. He really had no intention of going to see Lance, at least until he was back at home, but he agreed anyway and made no further attempt at conversation as they made the short trip from the waiting area to Lance's room.

"Papito! Look what you've done to yourself!" Rosa exclaimed as she entered the room. Keith's jealousy overtook him again as he watched Rosa fuss over her youngest son, but again, he shoved it down. Those feelings had no place here. This had nothing to do with him. Or so he thought.

"Mama? What are you doing here?!" Lance said, his thick eyebrows furrowed in shock and protest at his mother's arrival.

"Keith called me and told me that you were in an accident." Rosa explained, the wrinkles around her eyes becoming more prominent as she inspected her son's appearance.

"I'm fine, Mama." Lance assured her, "Keith has a tendency to overreact." Those last words had a bite to them that Keith didn't expect and he flinched at the sound of them. Unsure of what to say, he just looked at the floor again, but he caught Pidge and Hunk sneaking out of the room in his peripherals. Clearly, Keith had made a mistake here, but he couldn't figure out why Lance would be upset that his mother was here. He always complained that he was her least favorite and now she was here. Clearly she loved her son.

"I'll just uh...I'm just gonna go wait with Pidge and Hunk." Keith said. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Mcclain." He slipped out of the room before Lance or Rosa could respond and when he made it back to the waiting room, he was shaking. Why was he shaking? This was a completely ridiculous reaction. He made a beeline towards the bathroom and stopped at the sink. He turned the faucet on, running his hands under the warm water before splashing his face. Looking down at the sink, he gripped the edges of the porcelain trying to stop the wheels from turning in his brain. Why was Lance mad at him for this? Why didn't he want his mother here? Keith would've given anything to have a mother to fuss over him. Pushing the thoughts away, he looked at his reflection in the mirror, pale violet eyes staring back at him. Whatever. Lance's business was his business and if he was going to be mad about Keith calling his mother, he would just have to get over it.

*********************

The next several days were spent as Keith expected. Waiting on Lance hand and foot. Rosa was a constant presence around the apartment though and Keith was grateful to have the extra help between classes, homework and work. All the laundry was done, fluffed and folded with care. The kitchen remained spotless, hell, on the third day Keith came home and found Rosa in his room. 

"Keith! Rosa exclaimed as he walked through the door after a particularly grueling physics exam.

"Hi, Rosa." Keith responded in a measured tone. "Is everything okay?" He set his bag down in the ragged arm chair before sinking into the one section of the couch that Lance wasn't currently occupying. Keith was happy that he was currently sleeping, he wasn't sure how much of Lance he could take at this current moment.

"Oh, yes." she replied enthusiastically, handing him a stack of his own recently laundered underwear. "I took care of your laundry and your sheets are in the dryer." Keith fought back a groan of embarrassment. He didn't really want to admit how long it had been since he had washed those.

"You really didn't have to do that Mrs. McClain." Keith said bashfully, his cheeks pinking up at the thought of Lance's mother handling such personal items of his, especially since he wasn't her child.

"Oh, it was nothing. It gave me something to do while Lance was sleeping." Rosa replied sweetly. Keith couldn't bring himself to look Rosa in the eye. Luckily for him, Lance made a noise halfway between a grunt and a cough as he woke up. His light brown hair was tousled and he had a pool of drool in the left corner of his mouth.

"Papito, wipe your face." Rosa chastised genially. Another pang of jealousy stabbed Keith in the gut as he wished he had a mother that doted on him the way that Rosa doted on her youngest child. He would never know that kind of love and it was hard for him to watch.

"Mama," Lance groaned, sounding like a seven year old child. "I just woke up." Lance stretched in the most obnoxious way and Keith rolled his eyes. Always so dramatic. But Keith decided to let Rosa fuss over Lance without his presence and go put his newly underwear away. He could hear Lance try to convince Rosa that he was fine and didn't need her there to no avail as he closed the door and Keith felt a brief flash of anger as Lance's ungrateful behavior. He had no idea what Keith would give to have what he had. Lance had asked about Keith's family before, why he never went home for holidays and things like that. Keith could never bring himself to get comfortable enough to tell Lance the truth. Or anyone else for that matter. Lance wouldn't be in his life forever, so why divulge such personal information? Pointless. Only Shiro knew the full extent of Keith's past and that was only because he'd basically rescued Keith from it.

Keith pushed those thoughts away as he put his headphones in, blasting an album by The Maine that he'd loved since he was a teenager. He made it through the first two songs of Forever Halloween and he immediately regretted not locking his door behind him as the door flew open.

Keith fell off his bed in surprise. It was Rosa, summoning him for dinner.

"I'm really not that hungry right now, Mrs. McClain." he said warily, picking himself up off the floor and untangling himself from his headphones.

"Nonsense." she quipped. "I made Lance's favorite, come join us." Keith mentally acknowledged how awkward it was for him to be served dinner in his own home, but resigned himself to the fact that Rosa wasn't going to take no for answer. He tossed his phone onto his bed and trudged out of his room, joining Lance at the small kitchen table. Keith winced. The last time he had really even been near that table was a couple of days ago when Lance had his accident, now he had the sudden urge to throw it out and buy a new one. Where the hell did that come from? Now they were all sitting around it, acting as if nothing had ever happened.

"How are you feeling, buddy?" Keith asked gingerly as Rosa bustled around the tiny kitchen in the background, putting the finishing touches on the meal.

"I'm fine, everyone can stop asking me that." Lance replied shortly. Keith had no response, so he and Lance sat there in uncomfortable silence for a couple of minutes until Rosa presented their plates and sat down to join them. Keith was overwhelmed by the aroma. Hunk was a great cook, but Keith had never smelled anything so delicious as his eyes feasted on the roasted chicken enchiladas and the cheese sauce that Rosa had prepared.  
When had she had time to do this? Keith felt another pang of jealousy. Lance had grown up with meals like this all the time.

"Papito, would you say Grace?" Rosa asked, looking at Lance expectantly. Lance looked extremely uncomfortable for a moment, before snapping into his usual mode.

"Oh, Mama, I don't think Keith does that." Lance said, looking at Keith. Keith felt like Lance was staring into his soul. "Do you, Keith?" Rosa's gaze turned on Keith and Keith had no idea how to react.

"Oh, no, it's okay." Keith said quickly. "Really." Damn. Embarrassed again. He felt severely uncultured.

"Then it's settled," Rosa replied. "Papito?"

Lance said Grace, albeit reluctantly, and Keith was grateful when they tucked into their meal. He wasn't one for talking so he wasn't expecting it when Rosa rounded on Keith with her questions.

"So, Keith, where are you from?" Rosa asked. Keith had no idea what to say, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to lie to the woman that had basically been taking care not only Lance, but him, since she had arrived.

"Oh, I'm from around here." Keith said. It was true, better to leave out the details. Lance eyed him suspiciously, but said nothing to contradict him. Keith avoided Lance's gaze. When Lance had asked him, he had lied.

"So you see your family often?" Rosa pressed. Keith felt his wall go up at the question. He knew Rosa didn't mean any harm, but she had no idea the can of worms she was opening and he knew he''d have to explain himself to Lance sooner or later.

"I...I don't actually." Keith said, once again, his cheeks blazed. He felt like his face was on fire as he answered her question. "I was raised in the system. Foster homes, mostly. It's how I met Shiro. I don't really have a family."

"Oh, Papito, why didn't you ever tell me?" Rosa chastised her son, prodding him in the side. "You should have brought him around for Christmas last year." If Keith hadn't been embarrassed already, he sure as hell was now.

"OW, Mama." Lance whined. "I don't know, I never thought about it." Keith was surprised. Lance was covering for him. Why?

"You never thought about it?!" Rosa exclaimed. "This boy has been alone since you've known him and you never thought about it?" Rosa swatted him several times. "Shame on you, I raised you better than that. You're lucky I don't whip out my chanclas for you right this minute!"

Keith choked on a laugh and his chicken. "Chanclas?"

"Oh, yes." Rosa said sternly. "Papito knows all about the chanclas." Keith was surprised that she was glaring at her son for not inviting him around for the holidays.

"Mama, I didn't know, I swear!" Lance said defensively. His response was in vain, she merely swatted him again. "Would you stop hitting me!"

Rosa spent the rest of the meal in silence and appeared to be deep in thought. Lance and Keith exchanged several glances and Lance's always seemed to tell Keith that he had a lot of explaining to do. As Rosa snatched up Keith and Lance's empty plates, she finally spoke.

"Keith, I've decided that you will join our family for the holidays in a couple of weeks. Lance will bring you." Rosa said. Keith's mouth dropped open and before he could form a reply, she snapped "I will not take no for an answer." With that, she turned on her heels and began washing the dishes. Keith felt Lance's eyes on him as he said "Okay, Mrs. McClain. I'd love to." It wasn't completely a lie, but now he really would have to tell Lance everything, from the beginning. And right now? He wanted nothing less than to sink into the floor and never return.


	4. We Might As Well Be Strangers

Rosa McClain returned home two nights after Keith's revelation and Keith went out of his way to avoid Lance out of sheer embarrassment. Lance, for his part, seemed to have merely returned to normal. He made no mention of Keith's family or Rosa's order. Keith was under the assumption that Lance was trying to ignore and forget the problem, what he didn't know was how upset Lance was with him for lying. Didn't Keith know that he could tell Lance anything? But Lance stopped himself before he went too far down the rabbit hole of those thoughts. There was plenty that he was keeping from Keith and the rest of the group too.

"What's wrong with you two?" Pidge snapped finally, having had enough of their general awkwardness, "What did you guys get drunk and have sex or something? Why are you being weird?" Keith coughed down a drink and Lance snorted half of his soda. Hunk was too involved in his meal to pay attention.

"What? What the hell are you talking about Pidge?" Lance deflected, grabbing a napkin to wipe his Coke covered face with. Keith recovered quickly and maintained his silent stoicism. 

"I'm talking about the two of you." Pidge said, eyes narrowed as they flitted back and forth between Keith and Lance waiting for a reaction that affirmed her suspicions. Lance watch as Keith's body tightened up, it would have been almost imperceptible to anyone else, but Lance knew him. Or he thought he did. He had never noticed Keith's shoulders were so broad.

"Of course not, Pidge." Keith snapped back, "Don't be an idiot." Pidge folded her arms across her chest. She said nothing, but Lance could tell that she was far too deep in over-analyzing the situation. Where the hell had she gotten that idea from?

"Relax, I was just joking." she said finally. "Wow, you two are really wound up." She uncrossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, her body language betraying her. She was watching the two of them intently.

"Hunk, are you gonna jump in here?" Lance asked desperately hoping for a distraction from the current topic of conversation. "Hello? Any input, big guy?"

"Huh?" Hunk said obliviously, his mouth full of food. Lance sighed and he saw Keith's body relax out of the corner of his eye. Had he always looked like that..? Lance snapped out of it, lest Pidge notice and torment them all the more.

"Never mind, buddy." Lance said. "Besides, old Mullet would be lucky to sleep with me." Keith let out a snort.

"Is that so?" Keith asked with a smirk. What Lance didn't see was Hunk and Pidge exchange a knowing glance. 

"Yes, as a matter of fact, it is." Lance said proudly, arms crossed against his chest.  
*****************************************

A couple of hours later, Lance and Keith arrived at home. Keith made a beeline for his room, but before he could get there-

"Keith?" Lance said tentatively.

"Yeah?" Keith responded, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. Here it comes, the conversation he was trying to avoid.

"We need to talk. About...this. About everything." Lance said, stumbling over his words. Keith could tell that Lance wasn't sure what he was doing. What to say or how to ask the questions that were burning holes in his mind.

"Why?" Keith said, a hint of defensiveness coloring his tone. Keith watched as Lance's stance took a turn towards the confident.

"Because. You lied to me. And I don't want to live with a lying liar who lies." Lance said, brows furrowed in concern. Well manicured eyebrows at that. Why was Keith noticing that?

"A lying liar...Who lies?" Keith said, making his best attempt not to laugh. This only seemed to upset Lance more.

"Yeah, Mullet. A lying liar who lies." Lance repeated, as if defending his choice of phrase. "You lied to me." This response took Keith aback. Lance was...hurt?

"I didn't know how to tell you or what to tell you." Keith said simply. He didn't owe Lance any explanation. His story was his own. "So I just didn't tell you."

"That's all you have to say for yourself?" Lance said. He was used to people not taking him seriously, but he refused to let Keith walk away from this without answering for it.

"Look...It's nothing personal." Keith said with a defeated sigh. "People in my life come and go. I didn't see the point of making a big deal out of it." Lance took a step towards him, leaning on the doorframe of Keith's room.

"So you decide to wait until my mom is here, cleaning up after you to drop that bomb." Lance accused. Keith felt his face getting hot and knew that he was going to lose his temper.

"She wasn’t cleaning up after me, idiot, she was cleaning up after you." Keith snapped back at Lance. "You're the reason she came and you were shoving her out the door from the second she got here. You don't know how badly I wish I had a mother that would do that for me." Lance seemed to realize that his words had struck a chord with Keith because he backed off.

"Well, now you're stuck with her." Lance said finally. Keith saw the tension in his shoulders relax and the open hostility that colored Lance's tone before was gone. "Don't think you're going to be able to worm your way out of Christmas. My mom will hunt you down." With that, Lance turned and made his way to his own room. Keith heard Lance's door close as he closed his own.

"I wouldn't dream of it." he said to himself, halfway wishing Lance would have heard him. He would've thought he did because no sooner had he closed his door did Lance knock on it, inviting himself in.

"Lance, what-" Keith stammered, anxiously. "What's up?" Lance took a seat, crosslegged on the end of Keith's bed. He was carrying two old photo albums, one was worn brown leather that had grayed in patches with age, the other looked newer and more durable and was black in color.

"I thought you might want to go over these with me." Lance said, "If you're coming home with me for the holidays, it's probably better than you know everyone because they're going to have a lot of questions. And I've never brought anyone home before."

Keith took one of the albums that Lance offered him, looking at it with pointed interest. He couldn't believe that even after he lied that Lance was willing to open up and share parts of his life with him like this. Keith looked at Lance and for the first time felt he really saw him. He eyes lingered on Lance's every feature, taking in the beauty of it all.

"What are you looking at, Mullethead?" Lance asked, arms crossed and what seemed to be a disapproving look adorning his face.

"Nothing," Keith replied quickly. "Nothing, let's get started." Lance opened the big brown photo album, but snapped it shut a second later, snapping Keith out of what felt like a trance.

"What?" Keith said confusedly, "Is something wrong?"

"Keith, if you ever lie to me again, I'll punch you." Lance said bluntly. But his eyes betrayed more emotion than he words did. Keith's light violet eyes met Lance's green-blue ones and Keith knew he meant what he said.

"I'm sorry that I lied to you." Keith said, genuinely sorry for hurting Lance. "I'll tell you the story one day. But not today." A new feeling surged through Keith, one that he wasn't used to, especially in Lance's presence. Comfort. Keith wanted to tell him every little thing that had ever happened to him, but he resisted. Why would Lance care? He was only bringing him home because his mother had basically ordered him to.

"Alright," Lance began opening the first album, "So you've already met my mama, Rosa." Keith listened intently for the next couple of hours, asking questions when necessary as Lance showed him his siblings, Marco, Luis and Veronica and their spouses. Their children and his aunts and uncles and cousins. His abuela. And now Keith was excited and nervous to meet them all. And he wondered what they would think of him when he did.


	5. Between Order And Randomness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I kind of just powered through this chapter cause I'm gonna be spending a little more time on the chapters that are following this. Feel free to give your feedback!

Keith woke with a start as his door flew open.

"GOOD MORRRRRning, Mullet!" Lance crowed cheerily. "You're looking especially mullety today." Keith glared at Lance as he stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed and a grin spreading across his face.

"Get OUT, Lance." Keith growled. Lance just stood there unfazed by Keith's grumpy, early morning demeanor with that crooked half smile that Keith lov-he meant hated on his face. Keith hurled a pillow at Lance, but it bounced harmlessly away.

"What do you mean get out?" Lance asked, "We're late for our roadtrip!" Lance was practically bouncing with excitement at the prospect of going home to see his family. He always got like this around this time of the year. Keith didn't really understand why, it was cold and he hated snow. But Lance always insisted on decorating the apartment as Christmas-y as possible, despite Keith's many, many protests. Alas, it seemed this year was going to be even more stressful for Keith because now he'd have to deal with a whole family of Lance's. Keith groaned again and plopped himself back into his fluffy, black down comforter. "Get UP! Keithy. We have to go! Mama will kill us if we're late. Andale!" Lance's voice echoed down the narrow hall as he entered the living room. Keith reluctantly extricated himself from the comfort of his warm bed and trudged down the hallway in dark red boxer briefs.

"Keith!" Lance exclaimed, in a mock scandalized tone. "While that is a great look for you, I'm not sure it's entirely roadtrip worthy." Lance's words came out so fast that Keith doubted that he had even kept track of what he said, but Keith brushed them off, chalking them up to Lance's boundless energy at work. Keith made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth, only to find that his toothbrush was gone.

"NO time for that Keith!" Lance shouted. "Besides, I packed your toothbrush already!" Goddamnit. Lance really was going to be the death of him.

********************************************************

A couple of hours later, a fuming and irritable Keith and an incessantly bouncy Lance made their way to Lance's little beater car. It was a shitty little grey Ford Taurus that he had named Lance Jr. "Hey, it has personality, like me." Lance always said. For as old as the car was, Lance took very good care of it which consistently shocked Keith due to Lance's general disregard of almost any and everything else. Keith had no doubts it would make the trip with no problems, however he wasn't sure if he and Lance would both survive the trip. Being confined in the car together wasn't Keith's idea of a good time. Keith groaned aloud the minute Lance turned on a Latin Pop song and started singing along in Spanish.

"No eres tú, no eres tú, no eres tú, soy yo  
No te quiero hacer sufrir  
Es mejor olvidar y dejarlo así  
Échame la culpa"

Lance sang along to the Luis Fonsi song and Keith was surprised to hear Demi Lovato's voice in the mix and decided quietly to himself that he didn't actually hate the song. The drive continued without incident, Keith discovered that Lance actually had a really nice singing voice when he was actually trying and not being obnoxious. But they were getting sleepy by the time Keith pulled into the parking lot of a decent looking motel.

"If you're tired, I can keep driving," Lance offered with a yawn. Keith laughed at the idea.

"You almost fell asleep at the wheel and killed us an hour into your turn and we had to pull over and switch." Keith said flatly, holding Lance's car keys out of his reach, putting them in his pocket.

"Hey!" Lance protested. "If you give them to me, we'll finish the drive tonight!" Lance pouted as they walked into the motel office.

"Not a chance." Keith shot Lance down. Keith turned his attention to the older black woman that was looking at them expectantly.

"Can I help you boys?" she said kindly.

"We were wondering if you have a room available?" Lance interjected before Keith could respond. The woman booted up the system and confirmed that they had one room available for the night but that it only had one bed.

As Keith opened the door to the room, he saw a large bed taking up most of the room while a small entertainment center and television occupied the space across from the foot of the bed. The walls were a garish bubblegum pink color and Keith spied a small sink outside of what he assumed was the door to the bathroom, which Lance rushed into almost immediately.

When Lance finally emerged, he saw that Keith had stripped the bed of the heavy comforter and grabbed the extra sheet and pillow from the small linen closet. "What are you doing?" he asked, curiously, one eyebrow cocked in confusion.

"Made a pallet on the floor?" Keith said, confused by Lance's question. "It's only one night, I figured you would want the bed." Lance made a noise that sounded like a snort and he picked up Keith's pillow and threw it at the head of the bed.

"Exactly, it's one night and this bed is big enough for both of us." Lance said smoothly. "Don't make it a big deal." Keith was honestly surprised at Lance's comfort at the thought of sharing a bed with him. He didn't protest and he didn't mind necessarily, but he would do his best not to make it awkward. The same couldn't be said for Lance when he peeled his shirt off and crawled into bed in just his boxer briefs. Keith's cheeks turned an embarrassing shade of pink and he rolled away from Lance to hide it. Within minutes, Lance was snoring and Keith was wide awake with the image of Lance in his perfectly fitted underwear burned into his mind forever. He rolled back over into a more comfortable position once he was sure Lance was actually asleep and observed him.

Lance really was an ugly sleeper Keith mused to himself. His right arm was folded back behind his head and his mouth was hanging wide open as he snored moderately. Keith noted the broad planes of Lance's tanned chest, his pectoral muscles were well defined and sloped into defined but not too chiseled abs. Keith noted the drool that was already escaping his mouth and snorted quietly to himself as he attempted to drift off into sleep.  
*************************************************************************  
Lance woke earlier than Keith the next morning and slid out of bed while attempting not to wake him, which was hard to do. Keith's arm had drifted across Lance's midsection while they were sleeping. He looked down in embarrassment at the half-erection he was sporting and decided it would be wise to invest in a cold shower. He showered quickly, doing his best to ignore the throbbing below his waist and when he stepped out of the shower, he realized he had forgotten to grab his change of clothes. He opened the creaking door as slowly as possible and tip toed quietly into the room, stealing a glance toward the bed to see if Keith was still sleeping. To his surprise, Keith was gone. He shrugged and decided to drop his towel right there and when he turned his back to the door, he heard it open.

"Oh, come on Lance!" Keith said, shielding his eyes from the vision of Lance's ass. His perfectly round, toned ass. 

"What?! I thought you were gone!" Lance shouted defensively, pulling his underwear on, trying not to fall over.

"I went to get us breakfast!" Keith said, uncovering his eyes to see if it was safe. Lance had pulled on a pair of black sweatpants over his underwear and Keith handed him the bag that contained his breakfast bagel.

"So what'd you think?" Lance asked innocently.

"What?" Keith said, choking on a bite of his bagel while trying to act like he didn't know what Lance was talking about.

"My ass, it's great, right?" Lance said with a sly grin. Keith punched him in the shoulder.

"Shut up, Lance."

"What?! I'm just saying!" Lance protested. "I've worked really hard on it!" Keith shook his head, laughing as they finished their breakfast. Lance packed quickly while Keith took a brief shower and then they hit the road again, but the closer they got to Lance's mother's house, the tighter the knot in Keith's stomach got. And he had no idea what to do about it.


	6. I Think I'm Gonna Like it Here

Keith's apprehension continued to grow the closer to the McClain house he and Lance got, meanwhile Lance only seemed to get more excited at the prospect of seeing his family. Before now, he would've found it extremely easy to ignore Lance's almost incoherent babbling, but now Keith paid rapt attention. He felt some sort of odd obligation since his mother had offered to open up her home to him. He still couldn't get over the shock of it. Such kindness for a person that she had never met before. Keith didn't think it was something he would ever get used to. So Keith listened to all of Lance's stories about he and his siblings from when they were younger. He felt like he knew them already.

As they turned down roads that were now familiar to Lance, a hush overcame the car and again, Keith wasn't sure how to broach it so he left it alone, instead gazing out of the window. It was raining steadily now, the drops thick and heavy as they pelted down. Keith couldn't help but notice how green and beautiful everything was. He was used to the grey of the city, not this. It was a wild type of beauty he had only ever really seen in pictures, he couldn't wait to experience all of it. He also couldn't wait to lay out on the beach. He always imagined it as being peaceful, just him and the waves lapping at the shore and the sand squishy between his toes. Maybe this trip wouldn't be so bad after all.

Keith saw out of the corner of his eye as Lance turned up the intensity of the windshield wipers to match the increasing tenacity of the rain. He had a hard look on his face, impenetrable almost and Keith had never seen it on him before. His eyebrows furrowed in concern, but Lance wasn't paying any attention to him now.

"Lance, are you okay?" Keith asked tentatively. Lance either didn't hear him or ignored him, whichever it was, Keith spoke again. "Lance?"

"Huh?" Lance said, snapping back into focus on the road. "What? What's wrong?" Keith shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I was asking you that." Keith said gently. running his fingers through his raven hair. "You haven't said a word for an hour." Keith watched Lance's jaw clench as he thought over a response in his head.

"Yeah, everything's fine." Lance responded finally, a smirk decorating his lips. "Worried about me, Mullet?" Keith rolled his eyes.

"Don't read too much into it," Keith snapped haughtily. "Just wanted to make sure you didn't catch lockjaw or something." Lance was better at deflecting than Keith originally thought, but it wasn't his place to dig any deeper. Keith resumed looking out the window.

"It's okay if you were, I understand." Lance jabbed, "I'm very lovable. Really, it's okay."

"Keep dreaming, McClain." Keith laughed as Lance turned down a dirt road, passing by several small businesses, one of which was the family owned restaurant that Lance sometimes spoke of. Keith wanted to ask him about it, but again, the look on Lane's face told him that he was lost in thought and he didn't have the heart to break him out of it. Still, he couldn't help but wonder why Lance wasn't getting more excited at the prospect of being around his family. All he ever talked about was how much he missed them. That and his abuela's cooking. Something was off, Keith knew it, but he was in no rush to figure out what it was. When Lance was ready, he would tell him. It was only fair to give Lance that courtesy considering how much he hadn't told him.

******************************************

"We're here." Lance said finally, breaking the silence as they turned down a narrow, dirt drive. Keith tore his gaze away from the foliage's array of green and looked out through the windshield. Even through the rain, Keith could make out the distinct outline of a house. It was on the smaller side, but quaintly so and Keith could tell that there was a good deal of farmland surrounding it. From what Keith knew, Lance's brothers helped their mother with the planting, growing and harvesting while she and Veronica took care of the animals.

As they pulled in closer, Keith could make out that it was a smaller two story house. There was a small wrap around porch with a two person swing handing from the enclosed portion of the ceiling. Several chickens hobbled around, pecking aimlessly at the ground, scattering as Lance pulled into the drive. Keith sensed Lance's unease and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Keith felt Lance's shoulder drop as exhaled a breath that it seemed like he'd been holding for days.

"Are you okay?" Keith asked again, his eyes wide with concern. Lance didn't answer, instead unbuckling his seatbelt and throwing the car door open wide as several small children charged out of the open front door. Keith noticed the stained glass in the window of the door and thought it was easily one of the most beautiful things that he'd ever seen. The children's excited yells tore Keith's eyes away from the window and brought them to rest on Lance as he scooped up two of the three children and spun them around.

"Tio Lance, tio Lance!" they screamed gleefully. Keith noted that there were two boys and one girl. But Lance had mentioned quite a few nieces and nephews. These must be the younger ones, Isabella, Luke and Liam. The boys were twins, that much was obviously and they appeared to be a year or two younger than Isabella. Keith was honestly surprised that Lance was so good with children and he couldn't tell if he should attribute it to Lance's pathological immaturity or if he was just naturally good with them. Keith was hesitant to get out of the car, he'd never been able to really connect with children and their presence made him even more anxious than he was already. What if they didn't like him? Would Rosa ask him to leave?

"I missed you guys so much!" Lance exclaimed, showering each of them with hugs and kisses.

"Tio Lance, who is that?" Liam asked, eyeing Keith. Luke wasted no time, he walked right up to Keith's side of the car and smiled up at him, broadly.

"Hi!" he said brightly. "I'm Lucas Pablo Ricardo Velez-McClain!" Wow. That was a mouthful. "But you can call me Luke! Everyone else does!"

"That's Keith, everybody." Lance said, laughing at his nephew's boldness. "Come on, Keith, don't be shy!" Ha. Easier said than done. Reluctantly, Keith opened the car door. Keith knew it was going to happen before it did.

"Alright! Everybody jump on Keith!" Lance whooped and before he knew what hit him, he had three small children dog piling him in the rain.

"Alright, alright!" an unfamiliar voice called. Keith looked up to see a beautiful, brown skinned woman in her late twenties. Veronica. "That's enough, it's pouring out! You'll catch your death. Everyone inside!" And just like that, the little ones were skipping and laughing their way into the house. "Did you all have to be outside barefoot?!" Keith heard Veronica exclaim in exasperation. "You'll all be getting baths early tonight!" Keith heard the kids groan collectively and stifled a small chuckle.

"Come on, you two." Veronica said rounding on them. "All the kids inside." Lance laughed and scooped his older sister up into a giant hug, lifting her off her feet and spinning her around twice like he had done with the children. Veronica pecked him on the cheek affectionately. "I missed you hermanito."

"Oh come on, you just saw me a couple of months ago!" Lance said, although he was clearly pleased by the show of affection. "Veronica, this is Keith."  
Veronica immediately enveloped him in the warmest hug he had ever received.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you, we've heard so much about you." Veronica said sweetly, a small, but genuine smile adorning her delicate features. She and Lance shared the same nose and coloring, but Veronica's face was slightly rounder, more like Rosa's. He was taken aback by her words though. What had they heard about him? Because he had heard very little about them.

"That scares me just a little." Keith admitted. Veronica laughed in response.

"Well it was mostly good things!" Veronica said reassuringly. "Two years worth of intel goes a long way and Lance tends to embellish."

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who knows that." Keith said laughing.

"HEY! The disrespect!" Lance said indignantly, pouting as if he were a small child. Veronica ushered them inside, assuring them that they could come back for their bags when it stopped raining.

"Sissy, that could be days from now!" Lance protested. Veronica waved her hand at him dismissively.

"Marco or Luis can get them." Veronica said, unperturbed. Keith stood awkwardly in the foyer. The house was much larger than you could see from the outside. The foyer branched off into three directions. On the left was a spacious living room, adorned with worn but beautifully made furniture. On the right was the staircase that led to the upstairs. The stairs were narrow and steep, but seemed to be sturdy enough.

"Veronica, where's Mama?" Lance called down the hall as the kids barreled towards them, eyeing Keith with keen interest.

"How many times have I said NO RUNNING in Abuela's house!" Veronica yelled. "Aye, Dios." Veronica returned in a huff, scowling at the rowdy children. "Ve a lavarte para la cena. Ahora." Veronica clapped her hands together establishing the finality of her words and the kids exchanged glances, not daring to argue back. They did, however, look up at Lance and Keith, hoping for a reprieve from them. Keith smiled at them, but another "AHORA!" from Veronica sent them scurrying to the hall bathroom to fight over the sink. "There are THREE bathrooms in this house and they all have to argue over one of them."

"That's nice, Ronnie, but it doesn't answer my question." Lance said in his most smart assy tone. Veronica smirked knowingly.

"I didn't hear your question, cabron." Veronica snapped with a chuckle. "In case you didn't notice, I've got everyone's kids today, not just mine."

"Ouch" Lance replied, as Keith continued on in his awkward silence. Lance placed a hand over his heart and the back of his hand over his forehead in feigned pain. "Ronnie, your words wound me."

Veronica punched him in the shoulder and Lance screeched again in mock pain.

"And the physical abuse has begun! Lance crowed, much to the laughter of his nephews and niece. "Keith, make it stop! Make it stop!"

"Has Lance always been this dramatic? Or is it just me?" Keith cracked, finally breaking out of his nervous shell. Lance gasped in mock awe.

"IT CAN SPEAK! THE MULLET CAN SPEAK!" Lance said, cracking up at his own joke. Veronica lead them down the hallway to a cramped, but incredibly well used kitchen. They all took seats at the ornate wooden table.

"Nope, he's been like this his whole life." Veronica said affectionately, ruffling Lance's hair. "Papi died when we were little, but Mama always used to say that Lance was the most like him. Same energy, same sense of humor. Cabron." Lance quieted, a sad look overtaking his features at the mention of his father. "He just couldn't help himself, he made a big deal out of everything."

"I do NOT!" Lance exclaimed.

"You kind of-no- you really do." Keith said, with a snort.

"Where's Mama?!" Lance demanded, "She would never let you insult me like this!" Veronica rolled her eyes in a very Lance-like fashion that Keith was sure Lance had perfected by watching his older sister. He couldn't help but find himself envious of the bond that they shared. "Speaking of Mama, where are Luis and Marco? And Tony? And Rosita? And-"

"Lance relax." Veronica said calmly. "Everyone will be here soon to meet your boyfriend." Keith couldn't help it, but he immediately broke down into an intense laughing fit while Lance made a sort of strangled sounding noise, like he was choking on his own spit.

"Tch" Lance managed. "MULLET IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Veronica laughed heartily at Lance's reaction.

"Relax, hermanito, Dios." Veronica said once she managed to get her giggling under control. "Solo estaba bromeando."

"Whatever you say, Veronica." Lance dragged out the syllables in her name as exaggeratedly as possible, thus proving his sister's point in his mind. He had to admit, he loved this. He had never gotten to experience this on his own. This kind of sibling love. Maybe one day-no. Keith shoved those thoughts out of his mind again, but he still couldn't shake the fact that he was seeing Lance in a whole new light and it was kind of...as much as he hated to admit it to himself...kind of nice.

"Mama!" Isabella cried out. "You said we would have dinner! We're hungry!" Isabella slammed her palms down on the table.

"Aye, you're right, mija." Veronica said apologetically, but her tone changed quickly. "But if you slam those hands down on Abuela's table again, you'll get the chanclas. Sit." Isabella sat straight up at the threat of the chanclas and Keith still had no idea what it even meant. But it seemed intimidating enough that Keith doubted he would have argued back either.

"Lance." Keith whispered. Lance didn't hear him, or at least he didn't seem to. Keith glanced at Veronica, quickly to see if it was safe to try again. She was engaged in whipping up some sandwiches to quiet the kids. "Lance." Keith whispered again.

"Yeah?" Lance said. Keith shushed him.

"Not so loud."

"What is wrong with you?" Keith stole another glance at Veronica.

"Do you have the hots for my sister?!" Lance whispered loudly. God was everything about Lance so loud and obnoxious? "Gross."

"No, you idiot." Keith hissed, trying not to draw Veronica's attention.

"Then what?" Lance whispered, a puzzled look crossing his face. Keith flushed, pink. And Lance couldn't help but think it was ador-Nope. Not going there. Not happening. La. La. La.

"What...What's a chancla?" Keith asked. And from the minute the words left his lips, he regretted them because Lance burst into a fit of uncontrollable, howling laughter. The suddenness of it made Veronica jump.

"Dios, cabron." Veronica snapped. "What the hell is wrong with you!" The kids oohed at Veronica's swearing and she shushed them with merely a glance.

"Keith...doesn't...know... what... chanclas are." Lance said, choking out his words through laughter. Veronica chuckled lightly and Keith felt the tips of his ears get hot as his embarrassment grew exponentially.

"It's not that funny." Keith muttered under his breath. But this seemed to only make Lance laugh harder. "Oh yes it is."

"Believe me, you don't want to know." Isabella said, looking mortified. Luke and Liam nodded in agreement, the same look of terror on their faces. Veronica sat across the table from them, looking at them as if daring them to say another word before they finished eating.

As Veronica set the plates of food down in front of the kids, Lance's laughter finally subsided. "Wow." he said. "That was the best laugh I've had in a while. Good one, Mullet."

"Glad I could be of service." Keith muttered sarcastically, now thoroughly wishing that he hadn't agreed to come on this trip. Too late now though, he was stuck. There was only one way out, and right now he was seriously considering stealing Lance's beat to hell car and driving home.

"Ronnie!" a masculine voice called from the front door as it opened. "Can you help me get the chicken feed out of the truck?"

"MARCOOOOO!" Lance crowed, jumping up from his seat and tackling his older brother as he ran down the hall.

"Lancey!" Marco responded enthusiastically. "Mama didn't say you were going to be here already!"

"Yeah, yeah." Veronica snapped. "Hug, hug, brotherly love, we get. Lance, get the chicken feed out of the truck for me, I have to take the kids up for their baths." Lance groaned in annoyance, but Keith took this an opportunity to get the hell out of the kitchen and be useful. Marco clasped his hand in a shake, but quickly pulled him into a brief bro-hug as he introduced himself. Keith wasn't surprised that Lance was from a very pro-hug family.

Then a thought crossed Keith's mind. He still didn't know what a chancla was.


	7. Don't You Want to Share the Guilt?

After the trio successfully moved all of the chicken feed from Marco's truck to a fenced off enclosure behind the house, they moved inside to the kitchen where Veronica was cooking up what was going to be their real meal. After shouting down all of their protests, she had sent Isabella and the twins to bed to give the adults some peace and quiet. Of course, with the McClains there was no such thing as peace and quiet. Lance and Marco were locked in a heated debate over who would when the FIFA World Cup (Lance was a staunch Cristiano Ronaldo fan so he was behind Portugal all the way) but Keith and Veronica were having a more in depth conversation as she cooked.

"He's totally fine now though, obviously" Keith said finishing telling her about Lance's accident several weeks prior. Veronica nodded.

"Yeah, with everything that's been going on with Mama, I'm surprised she made the trip." Veronica said, shaking her head ruefully. "Truthfully, she should be resting much more than she has been, but that's Mama for you." The entire room fell silent when Lance's hand came crashing down on to the table with a loud smack. The sound made Veronica jump a mile out of her skin.

"Dios, Lance. What is wrong with you today?" Veronica snapped. "Stop doing that." Lance ignored her.

"What's wrong with Mama?" Lance asked, his voice higher than normal, bordering the edge of frantic. Keith had never seen Lance like this before. Not over something of this magnitude. Veronica and Marco exchanged glances, unsure how to approach the subject, but Keith was sure that whatever came out of either of their mouths regarding Rosa was going to be a lie. But Lance didn't notice the look, he was too busy running through every scenario in his head, probably jumping to the worst possible one.

"Nothing, hermanito." Veronica lied. "Mama has just been getting sick a little more frequently lately. You know how she is, always pushing herself too hard." Keith's eyes narrowed in Veronica's direction. Silently daring her to keep up the charade. But he knew it wasn't his place to say anything. It wasn't his family, it was Lance's.

"You know you can't tell Mama anything." Marco said jokingly, backing up Veronica's lie. Keith couldn't believe that they wouldn't just tell Lance the truth, but then he backtracked. Knowing how Lance reacted to pretty much everything, he now kind of understood their choices. But that didn't make it right.

"You promise?" Lance asked pleadingly. Veronica and Marco exchanged another glance, but again, it went unnoticed by Lance. He really could be so oblivious. "Pinky promise me, Ronnie." he said firmly.

"I promise, hermanito." Veronica said quietly, looking at Lance piteously, locking pinky fingers with him. When they broke apart, Lance buried his head into the crook of his arm and Veronica ruffled his hair affectionately before standing again to finish dinner.

"She's fine, Lance." Veronica said quietly. Lance picked his head up, giving a small nod and getting up from the table, making a declaration of how desperately he needed to pee and stomping up the stairs. "I think it's stopped raining." Veronica commented. "We can go get your bags after dinner." Keith gave an almost imperceptible nod, he was more focused on the lie that Lance's siblings had just told him. For as close as Lance claimed his family was, they were keeping one hell of a secret from him and as much as Keith wanted to mind his own business, he couldn't let Lance get hurt. The words came up like word vomit and Keith couldn't stop them.

"Why are you lying to him?" Keith asked bluntly. Veronica and Marco looked at him in shock. Veronica opened her mouth to answer.

"Veronica." Marco said warningly, but she ignored him.

"It's not like that, Keith-" Veronica began, but Marco cut her off, taking a step towards her.

"Veronica, think about what you're about to say." Marco warned. "You know what Mama wants." Marco crossed his arms, clearly trying to intimidate his sister into silence, but Veronica was clearly a force to be reckoned with because she snapped at him.

"You know full well I was never on board with this plan." Veronica snapped angrily. The fire in Veronica's eyes and in her tone were suddenly intimidating to Keith and he was almost sorry that he even brought it up. But not nearly that sorry. He pressed on.

"What plan?" Keith asked. "What the hell is going on?" He knew he had no right to press the issue like this, but he felt obligated. To Lance and to this family for taking him in.

"You've been here for one night." Marco snapped at Keith, "You have no right to dive into this family and try to call the shots." Keith recoiled at those words. He knew Marco was right, but he also knew right from wrong and the way that they were handling Rosa's mystery illness was all wrong.

"Marco." Veronica said curtly. "We will discuss this later. We do not speak to guests in this way. What would Mama say?" Keith was suddenly worried that Lance would come walking into the room at the wrong time, but he had the sneaking suspicion that he had simply went to sleep instead because it didn't take this long to pee. Marco refused to drop the subject.

"Veronica, no me gusta que este extrano se meta la nariz donde no pertenece." Marco snapped in Spanish at Veronica. Keith was sure they were talking about him, but he didn't care.

"SILENCIO." a woman's voice commanded. Keith had been so wrapped up in Marco and Veronica's argument that he hadn't even heard the door open. But there was Rosa. Keith regretted bringing up the topic at all, Rosa's current demeanor terrified him. Her dark eyes pierced right through Veronica and Marco and they fell instantly silent. Rosa did not regard Keith in the slightest, something for which, in this moment, he was intensely grateful for. Rosa spoke first to Marco.

"Sali." Rosa snapped, her eyes narrowed. Marco made no protest or argument, he simply got up and left, the door slamming behind him. Keith exhaled as quietly as possible a deep breath he hadn't even known he was holding. "Veronica." Rosa said as she sank into a chair. Her threatening demeanor evaporated and now she just looked immensely tired. The lines around her eyes and mouth became more pronounced and worry lines creased her forehead. "Explain." Rosa said simply. Veronica obliged.

"I said too much, Mama, I apologize." Veronica said, her voice barely above a whisper. Rosa nodded slowly, processing Veronica's words. "But I convinced Lance that it is nothing serious for now."

"And Keith?" Rosa asked, for the first time regarding Keith's presence in the room. Keith stepped out of the shadow that he was trying to make himself invisible in.

"I don't know anything." he said quietly, his gaze burning into the floor.

"Keith, please go check on Lance." Rosa asked. He knew that it was not a request, it was an order. Nonetheless, he obliged, making no remarks as he left the kitchen. He considered for a second sticking around to listen to the conversation between Veronica and Rosa, but quickly decided against it. It was too soon to piss off Lance's entire family, one brother was enough. He still had three whole weeks to get through, he was determined not to make anymore waves. He took the stairs two at a time and then he realized that he had never been upstairs before, so he had no idea which room was Lance's. At least until he heard the sound of Lance snoring two doors down on the left. He opened the door as quietly as he could, poking his head into the room. Yep. Lance was out cold, snoring into his pillow, drool pooling around the corner of his mouth. He hadn't even made it out of his jeans. Keith snorted to himself and closed the door, returning down the stairs.

When he did, Veronica was nowhere to be found and Rosa was still at the kitchen table. He turned and was about to return upstairs until-

"Keith." Rosa called for him. Keith walked cautiously into the kitchen and sat at the table across from Rosa. She eyed him carefully, eyebrows furrowed. "You disagree with my decision." It wasn't a question and Keith knew it. He said nothing. "Keith?" She tilted her head, waiting for his response.

"It's not my place to say." Keith said quietly, "I'm sorry for causing all of this." Keith was silently begging her not to throw him out on his ass. What would he say to Lance?

"Come with me." Rosa said, standing and turning down the hallway. Keith nodded, following her out the front door. She sat on the porch swing and motioned for him to join her. "I am sick." Rosa admitted. "That much is true. I do not wish to tell Lance about the seriousness of my condition. Not yet."

"But why?" Keith pressed. "What would be wrong with him knowing what's wrong with you?" Keith didn't know why he was so desperate for an answer.

"Lance knows a little. Honestly, probably more than he should. He's smart when he wants to be." Rosa said. "But Lance is my youngest child. My baby. This will likely be my last Christmas with my family and I want him to enjoy it. I do not want it tarnished by the fact that I am dying." Keith nodded slowly. Her reasons were her own and Keith had no right to judge her for them. If anything, Keith should be more understanding about them. What did he know about family? He had no room or right to judge her. He had no idea what he would do in her situation. "Please, Keith." Rosa pleaded with him. "Keep this secret for me. I will tell him when the time is right."

"Okay." Keith promised. He had a nagging feeling that this wasn't going to play out the way that Rosa was planning it, but he talked himself into following along with what Rosa wanted. It was her family, it was her choice. All Keith could do was go along with her wishes. No matter how much he hated himself for it.

"Thank you." Rosa said, simply. Keith had a feeling that she wanted to say more, but she did not. Instead, she got up and headed inside. Keith shrugged and decided to bring up his and Lance's bags.

Bringing up their bags turned out to be more of a challenge than Keith originally anticipated. While he had only packed one bag, Lance had packed as if he were moving back in and it took Keith two trips to bring in all four of Lance's bags, along with his own. He tried to bring them up the stairs as quietly as possible, but by the time he made it up with the first two, he said "fuck it" to himself and just left them in the living room for Lance to fetch in the morning. Keith leaped up the stairs two at a time, finally making it to Lance's room. Keith opened Lance's door as quietly as possible, trying to be careful not to wake Lance. Not that a hurricane could at this point, but still.

Keith extricated a pillow as carefully as possible from Lance's bed and he was grateful that he had thought ahead and packed his own blanket and he set up on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Lance asked suddenly. Keith jumped.

"What the fuck, man." Keith hissed. "You could've like...Warned me you were awake." Keith curled up on the floor.

"There's room for both of us if you don't want to sleep on the floor." Lance offered. Keith was glad that it was dark because he felt his face get hot at the suggestion that they share a bed again.

"I'm okay." Keith said stubbornly. He heard Lance sit up, the moonlight illuminating his features.

"Are you sure?" Lance asked. "The floor isn't the most comfortable place to sleep." Keith fought about it in his head for a couple of seconds, but he eventually gave in and agreed to sleep in the bed after changing into a ratty t-shirt and pajama bottoms. Leave it to Lance to make it more awkward by stripping down to his boxer briefs.

"No cuddling." Keith snapped. Lance laughed in response.

"Why would I want to cuddle with you, Mullet?" Lance quipped. "Just shut up and go to sleep." Lance turned his back to Keith and Keith did the same, trying to ignore the fact that Lance was almost naked next to him. Seemingly out of nowhere, Keith was overwhelmed with the urge to touch Lance and he had to fight it off. What the fuck was going on with him? He was back to square one. Lance was going to be the death of him.


	8. Family Affair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith meets more of Lance's family and Lance catches Keith in an interesting position.

Keith woke early the next morning to sun rays peeking through the thin, red curtains covering Lance's bedroom window. It was amazing to Keith how hard Lance slept, especially because somehow through the night, their limbs had become intertwined. Keith rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes and then it hit him. He woke up with morning wood from hell. The tightness of the fabric over his erection created considerable discomfort and he was even more embarrassed when he realized that there was a small wet spot in his boxer briefs where the tip of his dick was resting. He glanced over at Lance to make sure that he was still sleeping. He took the fact that Lance was face down in his pillow, snoring, as confirmation. He changed into the biggest t-shirt that he packed which, thankfully, fell right above his knees, and made his way to the bathroom to shower. As he crossed the narrow hallway, the smell of bacon and eggs wafted into his nostrils making his mouth water.

Keith made it to the bathroom without making a peep and closed the door carefully, breathing a sigh of relief that no one had caught him. He stripped quickly, his cock bouncing cheerfully as it was sprung from its prison. He wrapped one hand around his length and gave himself one long test stroke. He felt his entire body tighten at the sensation and he realized it had been a long time since he had pleasured himself. Let alone had someone else do it for him. As he stepped under the jet of blazing hot water, he felt the tension in his shoulders relax almost immediately and reached for his cock again.

It didn't take long for Keith to find his rhythm and his entire body quivered in anticipation. Keith knew it wouldn't take long to get to the edge, it had been far too long. He ran his fingers through his hair, pulling at it and then let his free hand run down from his neck to his chest, down his well defined abdomen. Finally cupping and massaging his balls, he heard the door fly open and he jumped so hard that he nearly slipped, grabbing hold of a support bar on the inside of the shower.

"Who's there?" Keith asked, breathlessly. Keith could feel his erection waning and exhaled in disappointment.

"Morning, buddy." Lance said with a drawn out yawn. Keith fought off a yawn of his own as he heard Lance begin to pee. In the toilet. Right next to him.

"LANCE, what are you doing?!" Keith exclaimed, glad that Lance couldn't see his face burn in embarrassment. Lance had no boundaries whatsoever.

"Um. Peeing." Lance replied as if it were the most casual thing in the world. Honestly, Keith should be used to this by now, it happened all the time at home. So why was he so on edge now? Besides the fact that Lance had basically walked in on Keith going to town on himself in his mother's house. A sense of shame overtook Keith and he squirted a dollop of shampoo in his hand to wash his hair with. "You were in here for a long time, I couldn't hold it. What are you even-Keith!"

"Ye-yeah?" Keith stuttered, he could feel his ears burning even under the heat from the showerhead.

"At my mother's house?! Really?!" Lance exclaimed. Did Lance have to be so fucking loud about everything? Really? Honestly it was a wonder the McClain's knew how to keep secrets at all, because Lance sure as hell didn't.

"No, stupid. My back just hurts from being cramped up beside you all night." Keith retorted, lying his ass off. He didn't have to see Lance's face to tell that he knew he was lying, but Lance let Keith believe that it worked and just "Mmhmmmed" before closing the door and leaving Keith with his thoughts and his privacy once more. Now, though, Keith didn't have the heart to finish himself off, so he just rinsed the soap off his body before turning the water off and reaching for the nearest clean towel. He dried his hair as thoroughly as possible before pulling it back with an elastic tie and wrapping the towel around his waist. It barely fell to his knees, but he made sure to knot it securely at the crest of his hip.

Keith made his way back to Lance's bedroom, cursing Lance's name for blueballing him first thing in the morning and mentally pictured several different ways of ending him right then and there. Keith flung the door open and Lance stood there, fully dressed already, smirking glumly at Keith. Keith avoided Lance's eyes, feeling his face get hot. Why was he always embarrassing himself around the one person who gave him the most shit for it?

"Keithy, you naughty boy." Lance said with a laugh as he looped his belt through his pants. "At my mom's house, really?" Lance couldn't help but laugh. It was too good.

"Shut it, Lance." Keith muttered bitterly. He was never going to hear the end of this, Lance was going to make sure of it. Keith just hoped that Lance didn't spill the beans to his mother or siblings. He would die. "It's not like you've never done it in your mother's house."

"Oh, Mullet. Sad, sad, mullet." Lance said, placing a faux-sympathetic hand on Keith's shoulder. Keith shrugged Lance off, but couldn't help but shiver at Lance's touch. "You forget, I grew up in this house. Of course I've jerked it here. At one point it was like twice a day."

"Thank you for a visual that I did not need." Keith said, trying his best to sound disgusted. But the thought actually kind of...turned him on a little. Nope. Still not going there. No. No. No. Keith shoved those thoughts out of his mind with a quickness. "Just get out so I can get dressed."

"What, you don't wanna put on a show for me?" Lance mused as he strode to the door, grinning.

"Get out!" Keith snapped. Lance chuckled to himself as he closed the door behind him. Keith huffed in exasperation and realized that his boner had started to return. Keith resigned himself to be blueballed for the rest of the day and decided against a second attempt to relieve himself. He dressed quickly in his customary red tank top, black skinny jeans and black boots. He gave himself a once over in the mirror and was ready to start the day.

**********************************************************************

Keith could hear the chatter from the kitchen as he hit the last couple of stairs. He rounded the corner and made his way down the brightly lit main hall and entered the already crowded kitchen. Keith was surprised to see so many people. He realized that Lance came from a big family, but he never really understood how big it was until now.

"Keith is up!" he heard Luke yell and he couldn't help but smile. He seemed to really connect with the kids, which was a totally new experience for him, one that he actually didn't hate.

"Keith! Buenos dias!" Rosa said, smiling brightly as she swept around the kitchen preparing breakfast for everyone. Lance hadn't warned Keith that breakfast was an ordeal in the McClain household and there were several new faces around the room. Keith smiled awkwardly waiting to be introduced and Veronica was the first to notice.

"Lance!" Veronica called, pulling him out of a loud conversation he was having with two younger men that Keith hadn't met before. "Don't be rude! Introduce Keith to the family!" Lance looked over at Keith apologetically and Keith made his way over to the group.

"Alright!" Lance said animatedly. "Guys, this is my friend Keith. Keith, this is my brother, Luis and my oldest nephew, Tony. Marco is his dad, you met him last night." Keith nodded in understanding, shaking both of their hands. Keith caught Marco scowl at him out of the corner of his eye. Veronica caught it too, Keith assumed, because she whispered something that no one else could hear and he rolled his eyes at her. "This is Marco's wife, Laura. And this is Veronica's...what is he exactly Veronica?" Veronica smacked Lance in the back of the head and Keith couldn't help but laugh.

"Cabron."

"You love me."

Suddenly though, out of nowhere, Keith felt himself seize up. Too much. Too many people. Too much noise. Quiet. He needed quiet. He slipped out of the kitchen, but no one seemed to notice. As he made it to the front door, he had his hand on the door handle when he heard someone say his name. He turned and Lance was standing there in the doorway, looking at him in concern.

"I'm just getting some air." Keith said with a brief smile that he felt was more of a grimace. Lance watched Keith head out the door, unsure of what to do. Lance decided he would give Keith a few minutes and then join him outside. It was a beautiful day after all and Keith shouldn't have to be alone.

"Lance, where's Keith?" Rosa asked, curiously. "Did you chase him off already?" Veronica, Laura and Luis all laughed at Rosa's jab.

"No!" Lance said defensively. "He just went out for some air." Rosa contemplated his words for a few seconds before speaking. She rolled her eyes as a ball whizzed past her head and was caught by Tony. Veronica and Marco moved the steaming pans of bacon and eggs to the table as Laura tried to usher the younger children into seats.

"Luis, is your girlfriend going to join us, or is she going to hide in your room all day?" Marco said with a laugh. Luis mocked his laugh and chucked a biscuit at Marco's face. Marco caught it easily and took a bite out of it, giving Luis a small head nod.

"I can't believe you're making that poor girl hide up there!" Laura said. "At least take her a plate!" Luke and Isabella seemed to think that was hilarious and made to sneak upstairs to see if their uncle really had a girl up there.

"I think not." Veronica said as she poured orange juice into several glasses. "You aren't as sneaky as you think you are. Sit." 

"Awwwww". The little ones said in unison as they sat around the table. Lance looked around the room and noticed Keith still wasn't back yet. 

"You should go see how he's doing, mijo." Rosa said as if reading her son's mind. "I think maybe he feels left out. It has to be hard not having your own family to go to for the holidays." Rosa turned and opened one of the bright yellow cabinets, pulling down a large stack of plates.

"Let me help you with that, Mama." Marco said, rushing over to help. He took the plates from her and set them on the table.

"Marco, stop fussing over me." Rosa snapped, "I'm not an old woman yet." Lance didn't notice Rosa steal a glance at him to see if he had caught the exchange. He didn't. He was too busy thinking about whether Keith was okay or not. "Mijo?"

"Yeah, Mama?" Lance responded, dragging his eyes away from the front door.

"Go." she replied. "Go see if your friend is okay." Lance nodded. He wasn't sure how to talk to Keith, but he knew he had to at least try. Maybe he would get some answers out of him yet.


	9. Now You Lift Your Eyes to the Sun

Lance found Keith easily once he made his way outside. He was sitting on the trunk of Lance's car just looking out onto the morning horizon. Keith looked so peaceful like this and the last thing that he wanted to do was chase Keith away by being...too much. But he wasn't sure of any other way to be. Maybe he was his father's son or maybe just a product of his environment, but he didn't know what to do here. Lance sighed, here goes nothing.

Keith was surprised when Lance hopped up onto the trunk of the car with him, his long, tan legs dangling next to his own. He said nothing, just joining him in the peaceful silence of the early morning. The air was thick with humidity and he could tell it was going to rain soon. Keith felt his heartbeat quicken as Lance scooted closer to him, put his arm around Keith's shoulder. The touch jolted through him like electricity.

"Keith, are you alright?" Lance asked, his voice low. "You got out of there pretty fast." Keith saw Lance's eyebrows furrow the way that Rosa's did when she was worried. The way they had last night when she asked him to keep her secret. It took everything Keith had not to just blurt it out right here. The guilt threatened to consume him.

"Too many people." Keith replied, "I just needed some air. Some quiet." He returned his gaze to the sun that was still rising, squinting at the brightness of it all. He was acutely aware that Lance had not removed his arm from his shoulders.

"I can go back if you want." Lance said. But Keith could tell by his tone that he didn't want to leave, and to be honest, Keith didn't want him to either. That was a first since usually he did whatever he could to avoid Lance in general. What was changing? Were they becoming...friends?

"You don't have to go." Keith whispered. It was all he could manage, too consumed in his own thoughts to give much more energy to Lance's presence next to him.

"Why did you lie to me?" Lance asked after several minutes of silence. "I mean...I know why. But why?" Keith stiffened uncomfortably as he tried to come up with the words to answer Lance's question without giving away the intense jealousy that he felt whenever he was around Lance's family now.

"Lance, I-" Keith began, but Lance interrupted him. Ass.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Lance said quickly, clearly regretting the question as if he was going to push Keith away. Another thing that Keith wasn't used to, people taking his feelings into consideration. Lance pulled his arm back and suddenly Keith was yearning for him to touch him again. Nope. Stop it.

Keith noticed something he had never seen before as Lance's hands came to rest in his lap. It was a scar, thin but around an inch long at Lance's wrist. He had half a mind to ask Lance about it, but considering he was currently avoiding Lance's questions, he didn't really think it was fair. The two sat in silence for another few minutes before Lance spoke again.

"You know, right now we're missing Mama McClain's world famous breakfast, right?" Lance asked, his eyebrow raised. Keith was pretty sure he also just heard Lance's stomach growl with the ferocity of a rabid hyena. "We'll be lucky if Marco and Luis left us anything."

"World famous, huh?" Keith smirked. He hadn't realized how hungry he actually was either. "Let's go then, before Luis and Marco eat everything."

"Now you're speaking my language." Lance said with a laugh as they both hopped off the back of Lance's car. "You know, there's a dent where your ass was, Mullet."

"There is not."

"I'm suing you for damages."

"You gonna sue yourself, too?" Keith quipped with a snort.

"Can I do that?" Lance asked. "Plaintiff Lance McClain versus Defendant Lance McClain. I object your Honor!" Keith couldn't help but laugh out loud at Lance's silliness. Another shock because Keith had rarely ever found Lance funny. "Was that a laugh? A real laugh?!"

"Don't make it a big deal." Keith said trying to suppress a grin.

"I got the Mullet to laugh." Lance said proudly. "This moment is going down in history!" Lance opened the front door and the frantic energy in the house enveloped them both once more. But Keith was going to make it his mission to not be alone anymore. These people were important to Lance and against the odds, Lance was quickly becoming important to him. That was worth the effort of trying. Shiro had taught him that.

"MAMA!" Lance called. "Marco ate all the bacon!" Marco laughed at Lance's complaint, but Lance was silenced when Veronica sat a fresh plate in front of him.

"Are you going to shut up now?" Veronica asked with fervor as she balanced her youngest child, a daughter that appeared to be no more than two, on her hip.

"Sofia!" Lance cried ecstatically. Keith couldn't help but notice how adorable Lance was with kids. "Come see Tio Lance!" Veronica eagerly handed off the child who began giggling enthusiastically as Lance made silly faces at her.

"Keith, I hope you're hungry." Marco said genially, "Mama whips up quite the spread." He gestured to the table that was still laden with bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy, hashbrowns, and hand made flour tortillas and it all smelled so good. He grabbed a plate and doled out a heavy serving of eggs onto it. He flinched involuntarily. At one foster home you were punished if you were greedy so Keith waited for a reprimand that didn't come. Instead he was nearly bowled over when Isabella and the twins ran by.

"How many times have we told you not to run in Abuela's house!" Marco yelled after them as Veronica shook her head.

"It's no use Marco, I give up." Veronica said, throwing her hands in the air exaggeratedly.

"I guess we'll just have to get rid of them." Marco said loudly, intending for them to hear. "Maybe we can find a nice family to take them in." Keith, who had been shoveling his face with eggs and biscuits, slammed his fork down on the table, staring into his plate. Marco and Veronica stared at Keith in shock, unsure what had just happened or what to do.

"Marco, you fucking cabron." Lance snapped, handing Sofia back to her mother and placing a reassuring hand on Keith's back. Keith tensed up at Lance's touch, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Language, pendejo." Veronica warned as she whisked Sofia off to change her.

"What? What did I do?" Marco asked, genuinely upset. Keith nervously just pushed eggs around his plate with his fork, waiting for the whole ordeal to be over. He hadn't meant to make a big deal of this.

"Lance, it's fine." Keith hissed. "Drop it." He resumed eating, quietly in attempt to draw as little attention to himself as possible, but Marco rounded on him next.

"No, Keith." Marco said. "In this family, if something bothers you, you say it. That's how it works." Keith looked up at Marco in shock, unsure how to respond. "If I said something wrong, tell me." Keith couldn't find the words, but he looked at Lance and Lance seemed to know what needed to be said.

"I don't know what Mama told you." Lance started, "But Keith was in the foster system. It's a little bit of a sore spot, so easy on the jokes." Veronica and Marco nodded in understanding and Marco turned his attention to Keith. Keith, however, kept his head down as he wished he could sink into the floor or turn invisible. Anything but this.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea." Marco's apology sounded sincere enough to Keith. Keith nodded and muttered a thank you before uneasily continuing to finish his plate.

"Can't we all just get along?" Luis said sarcastically as he entered the room, completely oblivious to the tension that still remained in the room. He grabbed what Veronica said was the third clean plate he was wasting and treated himself to a hearty helping of the eggs and gravy the remained. Keith forced down the rest of his food and rinsed his plate in the sink while Veronica started handing out the clean up chores. As he began to make his way to the stairs he heard Veronica calling him.

"Keith, would you help Lance with the dishes?" she asked, "He needs a little adult supervision." Keith snorted with laughter and doubled back to the kitchen as Lance protested. Keith obliged and picked up a sponge, dousing it with water and then rubbing soap into it. This was different than at home. At home there was a dishwasher, here he and Lance were the dishwashers. Keith actually didn't mind the chore, it was mindless and the routine of it was oddly comforting to him. To his surprise, Lance also made no complaints, but every now and then Keith would catch a glimpse of the scars on Lance's wrist and be overcome with the urge to ask him about them. He had his assumptions, but... Well, he didn't want to be the one to make them and hurt Lance unintentionally. They finished the dishes more quickly than Keith had anticipated and the rest of the kitchen had already been scrubbed spotless by Veronica and Laura. Keith dried his hands on the hand towel they had been using to dry the dishes and then looped it over its resting place on the oven door handle. As he made to leave the kitchen, Lance gently grabbed his wrist.

"Wait." Lance said, taking a step towards him. The sudden movement caused Keith to tense up. He had no idea what to expect from Lance the last couple of days.

"What's up, Lance?" Keith asked, puzzled. Fucking weirdo.

"I wanna show you something." he replied with a grin. "Come with me." Keith shrugged as Lance dragged him through the hallway and through the laundry room to the back door.

"Where are we going?" Keith asked impatiently.

"Patience is a virtue, my mullet-headed friend." Lance chirped cheerfully. He lead Keith to a small barn and Keith's senses were overpowered by the intensely vomit inducing smell of manure. "This is Kaltenecker!" Keith looked and saw a cow. Lance had a pet cow. Now he had seen everything.

"A... cow?" Keith said, tilting his head slightly. The cow was chewing lazily on the grass it had been supplied as sustenance.

"Only the best cow in the world!" Lance said excitedly. "We've had her since I was a kid. She's probably reaching the end by now, but she's been a good friend. Always listens." Lance grabbed a brush and began to comb it through her short, coarse fur.

"Well, what were her options? Where was she going to go?" Keith snickered.

"Hey. She was there when I didn't have anyone else." Lance snapped, suddenly defensive. "I figured you of all people would understand that." Lance turned his attention to Kaltenecker and continued his work, glaring into her side. And of course, Keith had found a way to inadvertently hurt Lance's feelings when Lance had went out of his way to protect Keith's this morning at breakfast. What. An. Asshole. Keith burned red with embarrassment.

"Lance, I'm sorry, I-" Keith tried to explain, but it was no use.

"No. Don't say you're sorry." Lance snapped. "Nobody ever takes me seriously, why start now, right? Just go." Keith didn't move. Instead he moved closer to Lance, his hand covering the hand Lance had on the brush, slowly guiding him to a stop. Lance turned into Keith, their faces inches apart. Keith didn't move, he didn't know what was going to happen.

"Lance, I'm sorry." Keith whispered. Lance's eyes burned into his violet ones, searching for any sign that Keith wasn't being sincere. He didn't find one.

"I have an idea." Lance whispered back, dropping the brush to the wayside and taking a step towards Keith. Keith could feel Lance's breath on his neck and it gave him chills. He wanted Lance to touch him. To kiss him. There was no denying it now.

"Wh-what?" Keith said thickly, his nerves getting the better of him. Nothing else existed but him and Lance. Everything else faded to black as Lance answered his question.

"Let's go to the BEACH." Lance crowed excitedly. Keith exhaled a small sigh somewhere between relief and disappointment, though he had no idea which end of the spectrum it was closer to. All he knew right now was that his ear was ringing from Lance yelling into it.

"OW!" Keith said, punching Lance in the shoulder. Keith accidentally hit him a little too hard, because he stumbled back nearly tripping over a small foot stool.

"What was that for?!" Lance asked indignantly, rubbing the spot where Keith had struck him. "Dick."

"That was my EAR." Keith whined. Lance rolled his eyes dramatically and walked toward the house..

"Are you coming or not?" Lance asked. He didn't have to. The beach was one thing that Keith had been looking forward to about this trip and not even Lance could ruin it. He forced the thought of Lance kissing him from his mind, clearly the attraction he felt was one-sided. He'd have to get over that quickly or it would break him. For now, he was just focused on going to the beach and having a good time.


	10. Some Days

Before Keith knew it, he and Lance were on the way to the beach with a bag full of goodies packed by Rosa and Veronica and Keith was actually excited about the prospect of spending the day with Lance. What a difference a couple of days made. They spent the majority of the car ride debating their music tastes as opposed to where they merely told the other that their taste in music sucked before. It turned out that Keith actually liked a lot of the music that Lance turned him on to, mentally making a note of several artists to do more research into when they returned home from their beach escapade.

The air was still thick with humidity when they finally made it, but Keith didn't care. He grabbed his towel and his phone, looking at it for the first time since they had arrived at Lance's house the night before. He had several messages from Shiro, one from Allura, a missed call from Pidge but he didn't look any farther than that. He texted a quick reply to Shiro to let him know that everything was fine and then tossed his phone back into the car. As they made their way down the shore to the water, Lance slipped his shirt over his head and Keith had to keep himself from staring. He had never really looked at Lance's body in detail like this before, but he had to admit, he was impressed. Lance was lean, but well muscled, his olive tan skin gleamed in the sun. Keith walked a couple of steps behind him just to fully appreciate his back and shoulder muscles and fought himself as his eyes wandered down to Lance's perfectly toned butt. Snap out of it, Keith.

Keith jogged up to match Lance's pace and they settled on a spot a little ways off from the typical beach crowds, but still close enough to the water that Keith could jump right in once they got settled. Keith had to admit, this was kind of perfect. Well...Almost perfect. Keith laid out his towel, using his shoes (he refused to wear flip flops or sandals) as anchors and then laid out on his stomach, pulling his hat down to shade his eyes.

"Uh, Keith, don't you want sunscreen?" Lance asked. Keith looked up at him and he was holding the bottle with a mischievous glint in this eyes. "I really don't wanna listen to you complain when you burn and shrivel up like a prune." Keith scowled at Lance and snatched the bottle from him, squirting some into his hand.

"Ass." Keith muttered under his breath, under the false impression that Lance couldn't hear him over the waves.

"Ass?!" Lance exclaimed. "I'm ass that's saving you from a week of pain! And also from Mama when you start leaving dead, peeling skin all over her house!" Lance had him there. Keith acquiesced, rubbing the sunscreen unto his chest and sides. Lance couldn't help but watch him, mesmerized at how absolutely sexy Keith was. Snap out of it Lance. He shook his head briefly and watched as Keith struggled to reach his back.

"Need help?" Lance offered suggestively. "Let me." Lance reached for the bottle and squirted a quarter sized amount of sunscreen into his hand before rubbing his hands together.

"Uh...Sure." Keith said, hesitantly turning his back to Lance. "Ah, cold." Keith squirmed as Lance rubbed the liquid into his skin, but Lance's hands on his shoulders... They felt nice as they kneaded the muscles. This continued all the way down to Keith's waistband and Keith inhaled sharply when Lance's fingertips ventured just underneath the waist of his swim trunks. Alas, before he could react to it, Lance's hands were gone and Keith found himself yearning for more of Lance's touch. He didn't even bother trying to deny it from himself anymore, Keith was attracted to Lance McClain.

"Done." Lance said, smirking in Keith's direction. Keith avoided the look that he knew so well.

"What about you?" Keith asked, innocently. He just really wanted to get his hands on Lance. He couldn't even help himself.

"Oh, nice try Mullet, but I don't burn." Lance declared, triumphantly before lying back on his towel. Keith rolled his eyes at Lance's cockiness, but laid back on his own towel just the same.

"Famous last words." Keith quipped. But he was content to lay there in the sun with his friend for a few hours. Keith and Lance lounged around the beach for the next couple of hours, completely oblivious to the rest of the world. Even as frisbees zipped over their heads or soccer balls flew past their spot as little kids sprinted trying to catch them, they didn't move. They didn't speak. They didn't have to. Today, this was their own little corner of the world and nothing and no one was going to ruin it. By the time they were ready to go home, the sun was setting.

Keith's stomach growled in hunger as he realized he hadn't eaten since he had left the house that morning. He opened the bag that Rosa had packed for him and extracted a sandwich. Chicken and pepper jack, how had she known his favorite? Keith already knew the answer to that. Lance. He was honestly surprised at Lance's attention to detail, especially considering that the man never seemed to take anything into consideration. Lance was constantly proving Keith wrong and Keith had to admit that he wasn't really upset about it at all. It was amazing the things you learned about a person the more that you spent time with them.

Lance looked up at Keith, but Keith didn't notice. Lance assumed it was probably because he was stuffing his face at the moment, but it gave Lance immense comfort to see Keith looking so content. He had never seen Keith obtain this level of peace and it was... Really nice. As irritated as Lance had been at the time of his mother's demand for Keith to join them for the holidays, now he was glad that he did. He saw a whole new side of Keith. Keith was funny and handsome and caring. And God, he was handsome. Lance reached for his own bag and joined Keith. He looked up from his sandwich and smiled at Lance. It was brief, but it was magic.

********************************************************************************

By the time they finished their meals, the sun was setting on the waves and Keith was speechless. He had never seen anything so beautiful. He leaned back, prepared to rest on his elbows, but instead found that Lance was there. He looked up at Lance, as if for approval and Lance smiled down at him, just letting him lay there. Keith turned his attention back to the marvel that he was witnessing. He didn't ever want to leave this spot. He felt Lance sigh a similar breath of contentment.

"Come on." Lance said, "I wanna show you something."

"I don't wanna get up." Keith pouted. "You're always showing me things." Keith reluctantly let Lance help him to his feet and he followed Lance down the nearly abandoned beach.

"Grab my bag," Lance said. And Keith obliged. It was a lot heavier than his own had been. What the hell did Rosa pack in here? Still he followed Lance's lead until they arrived at an old lifeguard shack. Lance climbed up first and when he made it up, Keith passed the bag up to him before climbing up himself. Lance was surprisingly nimble for somebody so clumsy. Lance made his way to the enclosed cabin and Keith followed him, watching as Lance spread out a blanket and pulled out an unopened bottle of tequila. Keith made a face in disgust, he was more of a whiskey drinker than tequila and that was one thing that he was sure that Lance knew about him already.

"No way." Keith protested. "I am not drinking that rat poison." Keith folded his arms across his bare chest and watched, amused, as Lance clasped his hand over his heart and cried out.

"You wound me!" Lance cried, ever so dramatically. "This is the lifeblood of my people and yet you refuse me!" Keith couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "Let's play a game." he said, his eyes narrowing, a devilish grin on his face.

"That's dangerous." Keith said, smirking. He leaned back on the blanket, supporting himself with his elbows as Lance laid on his side, cracking open the bottle. Keith watched as he pulled two shot glasses out of the bag. "I'm in."

"Excellent." Lance said. He poured two shots, offering Keith one. Keith accepted it and they clinked glasses, tapping the bottom of the glass to the deck and the downing them. Lance took his back like a champ and Keith made a face of disgust and nearly choked on the drink causing Lance to laugh at him.

"I'm scared you're not gonna be able to keep up." Lance taunted. "You gonna keep up, Mullethead?" He sat up, facing Keith as he handed the glass back to him.

"Just pour the shots, McClain." Keith fired back. Lance did as he was told and he offered the glass back to Keith, who again, took it. This time Lance just watched Keith and Keith felt his gaze and it couldn't help but start to feel a little uncomfortable.

"What?" Keith asked as he shifted positions, now sitting cross legged on the blanket. Lance just watched him for another minute and threw back his own shot.

"You gonna drink that?" Lance asked teasingly, gesturing to the full shot glass in Keith's hand. Keith said nothing, instead throwing the shot back in response. "That's what I'm talking about!" Keith laughed at that, any trace of discomfort he was feeling before was gone. He handed the shot glass back to Lance who promptly refilled it for a third time. "Let's play a game." Lance repeated. Keith looked at him skeptically.

"What kind of game?" Keith asked, almost regretting the question. They were walking a fine line and Keith felt like he was going to slip and do something stupid that he wouldn't be able to take back.

"Never Have I Ever!" Lance exclaimed as he screwed the cap back onto the bottle. This turned out to be a good idea, because he knocked it over as soon as he set it down, much to Keith's amusement.

"Seriously?" Keith mused, "What, are we in high school?" He should've known better than to taunt Lance, but he wasn't much of a drinker and he was already slightly buzzed.

"With a twist." Lance added. "Because we're adults, at least legally and we can drink. If the other person has done what the first person suggests, then they take a shot. The person doing the suggesting has the option to take a shot or do the thing that they've never done." And out of nowhere, Keith felt emboldened. Like all of his inhibitions had been stripped away. He knew he could thank the alcohol for that, but he was game, nonetheless.

"Deal." he said simply. Lance was surprised that Keith had agreed so quickly, but he quickly took his third shot and pressed on.

"Okay," Lance said. "Whose going first?" Keith took a deep breath before pointing at Lance.

"Your idea, you're up first." Keith said, exhaling and pounding his third shot. The warmth of the alcohol hit him immediately this time and the drink didn't burn anymore as it slid down his throat. He felt good-no. He felt great. He shivered in anticipation of Lance's first challenge.

"Okay." Lance said, puffing his cheeks out as he thought of his first challenge. "Never have I ever...Been streaking!" Lance covered his eyes in mock shame and Keith laughed in response and he took the bottle from Lance, taking a swig from it.

"What?!" Lance cried in shock. "YOU've been streaking?" Keith nodded in earnest, covering his face in mock shame. "Story. Now." Lance demanded and Keith laughed.

"No story." Keith replied honestly. "I lost a bet in high school and had to streak around the quad. I got suspended, but it was worth it." Lance howled in laughter. "So what's it gonna be, Ace? Public nudity or a drink?" The question sobered Lance up considerably and a mischievous grin graced his features.

"Mullet, it's like you don't know me at all." Lance said as he stood abruptly, yanking down his shorts. Keith choked down a laugh and he tried not to stare as Lance's genitals bounced freely as his shorts came down. Lance looked godly naked. But just like that, Lance was gone and Keith watched from the balcony of the outpost as Lance took off down the beach yelling "Freedom, sweet freedom!" at the top of his lungs. After a couple of minutes, Lance returned, hauling himself up over the banister and Keith was surprised that he didn't even bother pulling his shorts back on. Instead he just lounged there. Naked. So naked. Keith just wanted to touch him. He admired Lance's confidence, but also noted that he had no reason not to be. He would be too if he looked like that. "Your turn." Lance said with a smirk.

Keith took another swig from the bottle as he contemplated what his challenge would be. He sat there in thought for a moment or two as Lance looked at him expectantly. Keith would've been able to think faster, but he was mildly (incredibly) distracted by the fact that Lance was very naked right now. Time to even the playing field. "Never have I ever been skinny dipping." Keith said finally, a devilish grin of his own taking form. Lance's grin matched his own.

"What are you waiting for then?" Lance asked, innocently. At those words, Keith jumped to his feet, stripping awkwardly out of his swim trunks. He was acutely aware of Lance's eyes on him and he tried not to be self-conscious. He absentmindedly tried to use his hand to shield his junk from Lance's view but he was surprised that Lance was already on his feet and bounding for the banister. "Last one in is a rotten egg!" he shouted behind him.

Keith was right on his heels and both men leaped over the banister in one clean jump, both hitting the sand. Keith landed on his feet, balancing himself with a hand, Lance wasn't that lucky, but he managed to barrel roll and then right himself. It was too late for him to catch up though, Keith made it to the water before Lance even had a chance.

"Damn you!" Lance howled in agony as Keith celebrated his victory. Keith did a mocking version of Lance's customary finger gun gesture and Lance retaliated by jumping on him and dragging him down in to the water. The action shocked Keith, but he managed to loop his arm around Lance's waist and lift him high enough that he could drop him into the water.

"Hey-" Lance's response was muffled as he disappeared under the wave that crashed over them. He launched himself out, laughing and tackled Keith back down into the water. The boys wrestled in the water for a few more minutes before standing up, panting. 

"Ready to head back up?" Keith asked, shoving Lance lightly. Lance was visibly shivering. He nodded at Keith and they walked up to the outpost together, laughing. Keith couldn't help but admire Lance. Not just how incredibly hot he was, but everything. His laugh, the way one eyebrow cocked when he was confused. Everything. They helped each other up onto the top level and caught each other's eyes, both now acutely aware that they were both naked. Neither of them made a movement to get dressed though which surprised Keith. Instead, he reached for the bottle of tequila and took another swig.

"Still drinking the rat poison, huh?" Lance said, smirking at Keith as he handed the bottle back to Lance.

"Barely." Keith snorted. "Your turn if I remember correctly." The smirk dropped off Lance's face and he took a long swig from the bottle. He looked nervously at the floor and Keith looked at him apprehensively, unsure of what he was going to say.

”Never have I ever...kissed a boy.” Lance whispered, seemingly mortified at his own admission. Keith stared into Lance’s eyes, but was too drunk to decipher any meaning from the look that he was getting. But Keith got up anyway and moved towards Lance. He touched Lance's face gingerly, palming his cheek. Suddenly Lance's face was inches away from his. Keith inhaled sharply, breathing in as much of Lance's scent as he could. Their lips crashed together messily. Keith's heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest. The kiss was everything he had never known he wanted. Lance's lips parted ever so slightly and Keith took that opening to slide his tongue into Lance's mouth. Lance welcomed Keith's intrusion and their tongues met. Lance gasped as Keith pulled back, he had no desire to stop kissing Lance. In fact, that was all he wanted to do. But the realization hit Keith that they were still naked. 

Keith looked away as Lance pulled his shorts back on and he did the same. When Keith was finally situated, he looked up at Lance but Lance didn't return his gaze.

"Are you okay..?" Keith asked tentatively. Did he do something wrong?

"Yeah...I just..." Lance started. "Keith, I want to know why you lied to me. I think you owe me that." Keith frowned. He really did not want to go there.

"Lance, I-" Keith started, but Lance cut him off, crawling closer to him. Keith didn't know how to react.

"No, Keith. Please. Please trust me." Lance pleaded. "I need you to trust me." Keith didn't know how to respond to that. "Please."

"Lance..." Keith started, thinking of an excuse to get out of it, but another pleading look from Lance gave him a change of heart. "Okay. I will. But not tonight, okay? Not while we're drunk." Lance was already snoring. Keith looked down at Lance's sleeping form, cradling him in his arms. Keith leaned against the wall and dozed off into a night of fitful sleep.


	11. Look After You

Keith woke early for the second day in a row as sun rays penetrated his and Lance's little safe haven. He squinted, using his free hand to wipe the sleep from his eyes. He blinked several times trying to get his brain to process his surroundings. Lance was still passed out in his lap, Keith was surprised at that. He made a face of disgust when he noticed the pool of drool dripping down his thigh. Still, though. He didn't have the heart to wake Lance. He looked so peaceful. Until he let out a grotesque snore, scaring himself awake. Lance jerked up, looking around frantically, scaring the shit out of Keith.

"Whoa-" Keith yelled.

"What's going on?" Lance said manically. "Where am I?" Keith had no idea what to do to calm Lance down.

"We spent the night at the beach." Keith said calmly. Lance looked around the small shack, taking note of the almost empty tequila bottle, the blankets, the half-unpacked bag.

"What happened..?" Lance asked, now looking directly at Keith. He didn't remember the night before. "My head... Hurts." He laid down on the hardwood and covered his face with his hands. Keith felt his heart sink in his chest. He didn't remember. He didn't remember kissing him. He didn't remember anything.

"We got drunk and fell asleep." Keith lied, feeling his heart crack in his chest. Oh, get over it. It's not like they were... Anything. They were nothing and Keith had no reason to be upset about it. Lance breathed a sigh of relief and that put another dent in Keith's already fragile ego. "Let's get home." Keith said finally. Lance spurred into action, throwing things into the bag. Keith looked on, surprised by Lance's sudden burst of energy, but shrugged it off, picking up his own bag. They climbed down the lifeguard post together and walked back to Lance's car in silence. Keith offered to drive them home and Lance obliged, falling asleep in the passenger seat as soon as his head hit the headrest. Keith enjoyed the silence, but he couldn't stop thinking about the night before. How comfortable he was with Lance. Lance being naked. The kiss. He had no choice but to forget all of it. It never happened. He resigned himself to that fact with a sigh as he pulled into the McClains' driveway.

Keith decided to bring all of their stuff in before waking Lance, he was sure that the rest of the house was still sleeping. The clock on the car dashboard read five forty-two AM. Keith pulled Lance's house key out as he opened the screen door, but the door flew open before he could get the key in revealing the livid face of Mama McClain.

"Keith!" Rosa exclaimed angrily. "Where have you and Lance been?! I was worried sick! You can't just not come home at night!" Keith was taken aback by Rosa's outburst. He had never had anyone care what time he came home before.

"I-I'm sorry, we lost track of time-" Keith stumbled over his words, feeling like a small child that had stayed out past street light curfew. However, before he knew it, Rosa had smacked him upside the head... With a sandal. And then again in the shoulder and then his side.

"Don't. Ever. Scare. Me. Like. That. Again." Rosa fumed, every word punctuated with a smack of the sandal.

"Ow!" Keith said as he tried to block her shots. She was a lot faster than he expected. "Why-oof-are you-ah!-hitting me?!" Keith heard Lance jogging up to the porch.

"Mama? What's going-AH!" Lance screeched as the sandal hit him squarely in the forehead. "What was that for?!" Lance rubbed the spot where the sandal had hit him.

Rosa didn't miss a beat, yelling at Lance in rapid fire Spanish that Keith couldn't understand in the slightest. He couldn't even make out a word in her sentences.

"Me asustaste la vida. Estas tratando de darle un ataque al corazon a tu madre? Eres estupido? Te crie mejor que esto!" Rosa snapped. "Cabron." She smacked Lance again, harder than she had thrown the sandal before turning her back on them and bustling inside the house. "VAMOS." Lance practically leaped over the threshold and Keith wasn't far behind him.

"Take that as a compliment." Lance offered. "It means she likes you." Keith looked at Lance in surprise causing Lance to explain. "Mama wouldn't yell at you if she didn't care about you. One of those twisted rules of parenting, I think." Keith followed Lance into the kitchen, his heart swelling. Lance's mother cared about him?

"Oh, look who decided to come home." Luis taunted. "Bet you got the chanclas, didn't you?" Luis left the room with an apple and a laugh.

"The... Chanclas?" Keith said, finally putting the pieces together. "Chanclas? The sandals are chanclas?"

"And you're lucky you don't get them again after that stunt!" Rosa shouted causing Lance and Keith to jump as she bobbed into the room. "Lance, get the eggs going."

"Yes, Mama." Lance said, hopping straight to task. Keith watched him intently. It was nice seeing Lance in his element.

"Why are you standing there?" Rosa asked Keith, her eyebrow raised in a very Lance-like fashion. "Get to work on chopping those onions." She pointed to the knife block and then to the two onions she had fetched from the counter. Keith had no idea how to do what she was asking, but he didn't dare argue with her. Instead, he pulled a knife out of the block and chopped the onion in half. Satisfied, Rosa left the kitchen.

"That's the wrong knife." Lance said. Keith barely registered that Lance was speaking, too busy trying to fix the mess he was making of the first half of the onion.

"What?" Keith said, frustration coloring his tone. "It's a knife." Keith knew knives. He loved knives. He kept one on him at all times. But he guessed he didn't know kitchen cutlery as well.

"Okay, knife expert." Lance deadpanned. "Here, take over the eggs for a minute." He handed Keith the spatula. Now this he knew how to do. Lance had already sprinkled in the salt and pepper, but he threw some cheddar in for good measure and watched as Lance made quick work of the second half of the onion. Keith was surprised at Lance's prowess in the kitchen, Hunk usually did most of the cooking at home. Lance did a little, but Keith had never really watched him work. This was totally out of Keith's zone.

"How did you do that?" Keith asked, genuinely curious. Lance shrugged him off.

"Been doing it a while I guess." Lance replied as he started on the second onion. "I'd show you, but you're already burning the eggs." Keith hadn't realized he was paying more attention to Lance than the eggs he was supposed to be watching and immediately flipped them to the other side, the liquid of the egg white sizzling as it hit the hot pan. Lance chuckled a little at that. Keith couldn't help it, but again his eyes were drawn to Lance's scars. But again, Keith fought his instinct and said nothing. It was none of his concern.

***************************************************************************

After Keith and the McClains finished breakfast, Keith helped again with the dishes. He enjoyed the routine of it, the repetition was comforting to him. Following the dishes, he trekked upstairs for the shower he desperately needed and found Lance sitting on his bed cradling his had in his hands.

"Lance..?" Keith said, cautiously. "Is everything okay?" Keith sat on the bed next to him, but Lance didn't respond. "Lance?"

"Yeah? Sorry." Lance said, snapping back into reality. Keith looked around the room, taking it in for the first time. The walls were a deep blue. There was a wooden desk on the far side of the room and a similarly colored dresser adjacent to it. The desk was cluttered with papers and a stray pair of underwear. The floor was a mess with Keith and Lance's bags, clothes strewn about haphazardly. "What's up Keith?" Lance asked, turning to look at Keith, rest his cheek on his hand. Keith took in Lance's face. He looked tired. A night of drunk sleep in his lap must not have done any good for him. If Keith was honest with himself, he was tired too. Sleeping on the hard wood of the outpost hadn't done him any good either.

"Just checking on you, buddy." Keith said. "Are you okay?" He felt genuine concern for Lance course through him. He just wanted to take whatever it was that was hurting him and make it all go away. But a familiar pit of guilt reformed in his stomach as he remembered the secret that he was keeping from him and it took every fiber of his being to shove it back down and try to pretend it wasn't there. He knew he wouldn't be able to forget it completely, he just had to wait until was dormant in the back of his mind again. Being with Lance was the best way for that to happen. When he was spending time with Lance, he wasn't thinking about anything else. But after last night, he couldn't think about that either because now he was just overcome with the desire to kiss every inch of his face.

Lance didn't answer the question right away and now he was avoiding Keith's eyes. Keith noticed he was staring at his scars.

"Lance do you wanna talk about it..?" Keith asked in a carefully measured tone. He didn't want to push too hard. "You can tell me whatever you want."

"I don't think I can." Lance whispered. Lance looked up at Keith with tears forming in his eyes. Keith couldn't bear it and the words started coming out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"My mom left me when I was a baby." Keith said. "Just left me with my dad and we never saw her again. And then when I was ten, my dad died in a house fire. He was a firefighter. Ran back in to save some kid's dog. And then he didn't come out again." Keith found himself staring at the floor. He had never told anyone the details before, not on his own. Shiro was the only one who knew, but Keith wasn't the one who told him. He felt Lance's eyes on him absorbing his words.

"You don't have to tell me anymore." Lance whispered. "Not if you don't want to." But Keith was surprised to fin that he did want to. Letting Lance in... It felt good. It felt right. More right than anything had felt in a long time. Curse Lance for doing this to him after what... Two days? That's all it took.

"After my dad died, I went into foster care. The first few homes were pretty bad." Keith began again. "The first one, I just remember being hungry a lot. The second one was the worst. My foster father... He used to hit us. There were three of us. He used to drink a lot too. When it got really bad, he put my foster mom in the hospital and then they took us away. And then I got kicked out of the third home. After that, I got placed with Shiro's family. His parents were...Great. They helped me. Got me into college. Shiro is my brother. At least the closest thing I'll ever to have to one." Lance listened to every word intently, never taking his eyes off Keith. Keith hadn't noticed, but at some point, Lance had taken his hand. His scar was facing up and Keith couldn't help it now.

"What happened there..?" Keith asked. Lance jerked his arm away instinctively, defensive.

"Nothing." Lance muttered, standing up abruptly, moving towards the door. Keith stood too, blocking his path.

"I'm not going to make you talk about it if you don't want to." Keith said softly, "But I'm not going to leave you without making sure that you're okay." Lance tried to worm his way around Keith, but Keith was like a brick wall and didn't budge. Instead he wrapped his arms around Lance, who broke down crying into Keith's shoulder. Keith had no words of comfort for him, instead just rubbing his back until the shoulder-wracking sobs subsided into deep breaths. Lance pulled away, hastily wiping his face. "Do you feel better..?" Keith asked. Lance nodded. "Let's go then." Keith turned to open the door, but Lance stopped him.

"Keith?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." Lance looked at him with gratitude and fear mixed in his eyes, Keith didn't respond. He gave Lance a head nod of understanding but couldn't bring himself to say anything. That didn't seem to bother Lance so Keith opened the door and followed him down the stairs.


	12. Believe Me, I'm Lying

The next couple of days passed without incident. Neither Keith or Lance made any mention of their trip to the beach or the conversations that followed, but Keith went out of his way to help Lance in any way that he could. Lance was sleeping a lot more the last couple of days, so Keith got used to doing the dishes alone with the company of pangs of disappointment when Lance disappeared upstairs. If Rosa or Veronica came around asking where he was, Keith was sure to make an excuse for his whereabouts. Keith was back at square one. He wanted desperately to help Lance, but he had no idea what to say to break through the wall that Lance had erected between them. It hurt Keith more than he expected it to or cared to admit, still though, he left it up to Lance when he would be let in.

On the fifth day of Keith's visit to the McClains', Veronica came bustling in with groceries and Sofia on her hip as Isabella dashed through the door underfoot.

"Tio Keith!" Isabella exclaimed excitedly and Keith thought his heart was going to burst from happiness. This was the first time any of the kids had referred to him that way and he loved it.

"Bella!" Keith exclaimed, matching her enthusiasm as he picked her up and spun her around the room. Isabella shrieked with joy as Keith set her down and she plopped on the floor, dizzy, but laughing.

"Hola," Veronica said briefly, kissing Keith's cheek in greeting. "Would you mind helping me get these out of the car? I have to feed Sofie." Keith nodded.

"Of course." Keith replied. He loved whenever anyone asked him to do anything, it made him feel like part of the family. Keith hurried out the door, knowing Rosa would complain about the bill for the electricity if the door was left open too long with the AC running. He grabbed every bag within reach, determined to make it in one trip and used his foot to shut Veronica's car door. His wrists screamed at him as he felt the blood supply getting cut off to his hands. Totally worth it. He trudged up the small staircase and through the front door, Isabella shut it behind him.

"Well, thank you!" Keith said. Isabella smiled at him in return and took off for the kitchen.

"You can just set those on the table!" Veronica called from the living room when she was nursing Sofia. Keith followed Veronica's direction, but still but all of the cold things away in the refrigerator. Rosa was at work currently, but Keith knew that if Lance was absent for too much longer, Keith wouldn't be able to explain away his lack of presence. Especially when Veronica had his nieces over. "You're a God send." Veronica said to Keith as he joined her in the living room. Keith shrugged in response and smiled.

"I try." Keith said dryly as he yawned, stretching. Veronica finished feeding Sofia and Keith dashed upstairs as quickly as possible to wake Lance.

"Lance." Keith said, shaking him gently. "Lance, wake up." Lance's eyelids fluttered open and he looked Keith directly in the eye... Before rolling over and closing them again. "Lance, this isn't funny. Get up. Veronica is downstairs." Lance didn't budge. Keith sighed. How was he supposed to help Lance when Lance was being impossible? Keith sat on the bed, trying to think of any solution to get Lance up. When none came, Keith got up to leave, but was stopped in his tracks when Lance sat up, grabbing Keith's hand.

"Don't go." Lance said, his voice pleading.

"Okay." Keith said, sitting back down on the bed. "What's going on?" Concern flooded Keith's voice.

"I... I don't know. I don't know what's wrong with me." Lance said, his voice straining as he tried not to cry. He buried his shoulder in Keith's and Keith patted his back, doing his best to comfort him.

"There is nothing wrong with you." Keith said softly. "You're perfect." Lance picked his head up from Keith's shoulder, looking him squarely in the eye. Keith could see the fear and the pain in Lance's eyes, but had no idea how to quell that fear or pain. He just wanted Lance to know that he would never leave him.

"You don't mean that." Lance whispered, averting his gaze and pulling himself away from Keith. Keith scooted closer to him, leaning in.

"Yes. I do." Keith said truthfully. "You have shown me things that I didn't think that I could feel or deserve. And for that, you are amazing." Lane sighed, wiping tears away as they formed, hot and fast.

"Then why... Why do I feel like this?" Lance asked, his voice cracking in pain. Keith had no magic words that were going to put Lance together again, but he had to do his best. "Something is wrong. I feel it in my gut." Keith almost recoiled, but he fought himself to stay right where he was. He knew Lance wasn't wrong, but it still wasn't his place to disobey Rosa's wishes.

"Lance, everything is okay." Keith whispered. It was a lie and Keith knew it, but he needed to tell Lance whatever he needed to hear if it made him feel a little bit better for now. "I promise." Keith regretted those words as soon as they left his mouth, he never made promises he couldn't keep. Lance nodded, attempting a small smile. "But for now, you need a shower, you're rank." Keith cracked, wrinkling his nose to prove his point. Lance laughed at that and agreed to shower and come downstairs. Thank God.

Keith was already downstairs making lunch for Isabella when Lance made his appearance. He looked like he was feeling a lot better than he had been when Keith went up to check on him, but in Keith's experience, looks could be very deceiving and he mad a mental note to keep checking on Lance regularly. He didn't want Lance to feel alone like he had for so long.

"Well good morning, Sleeping Beauty." Veronica said sarcastically as Lance found his way to the kitchen. "Nice of you to join the waking world."

"Yeah, yeah. Good morning Ronnie." Lance said. There was none of the usual Lance energy in his words, but Keith held his tongue. He didn't want to open a can of worms in front of Veronica. Keith finished Isabella's sandwich and put it on a plate for her before grabbing some carrots out of the fridge to snack on.

"So, Lance, Mama was thinking you could take Keith up to the restaurant today and show him around." Veronica said casually. Lance didn't turn towards her, but grabbed a box of cereal out of the overhead cabinet and opened it, just eating it straight from the box. That, at least, reminded Keith of the Lance was that he was familiar with.

"Is that your way of saying Mama wants to put us to work?" Lance asked, eyes narrowed. Keith snorted. He knew Lance hated anything resembling work, even if he worked his ass off, he was sure to complain about it the entire way through. Veronica shrugged innocently, though Keith could tell she knew the answer was yes.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Veronica deflected. "But she does think it would be good for both of you to get out of the house." Lance snorted.

"Of course she does." Lance said through a mouthful of cereal. "Tell Mama not to worry so much." Veronica's eyebrows furrowed in concern and she crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's not just Mama that's worried Lance." Veronica replied, brushing off Lance's cavalier response. "You know what happened before-"

"Yeah, I know." Lance snapped. "Just don't worry about it. I'm fine." He slammed the cereal down on the counter and stormed out of the room and up the stairs. Veronica cringed when the door to Lance's room slammed. Keith looked at Veronica curiously. What was she talking about? She read Keith's face like a book.

"It's really not my place." Veronica whispered. "He'll tell you when he's ready, but he really doesn't ever talk about it." She gathered up Sofia who was playing with Isabella on the floor. "Just... Keep an eye on him, okay? For all our sake." Keith nodded in agreement, pondering Veronica's words as she left the room.

**************************************************************************************************************************

A couple of hours later, Keith and Lance were sitting in silence in Lance's car as they drove to the McClain family restaurant. Keith was surprised that Lance didn't even have the radio playing, so he decided to take the chance and turn the radio on. Lance made no move to stop Keith as he flipped through the various stations. He did earn a confused look from Lance, however, when he skipped past a stationed that he clearly would've been into and settled on a station playing Urbano Pop music. Keith knew that Lance could tell he was hoping for a reaction from it, but Keith was disappointed when Lance didn't even sing a single line of a song that Keith knew that he knew. He was just going to have to try harder.

Lance pulled into the employee parking lot behind the restaurant and Keith followed him in through the back door that led into the office and backrooms. Rosa was bustling around, setting up ingredients for the cooks until she noticed them.

"Papito, you're here!" Rosa exclaimed sweetly, clapping her hands on his cheeks and kissing them before doing the same to Keith. "Lance would you please help Luis and Jose on the grill? And Keith follow me."

"Of course Mama," Lance said, rolling his eyes. Keith thought it was lucky that she didn't see the gesture because she surely would've smacked the shit out of him in front of everyone. But Lance did as he was asked and Keith followed Rosa to the back office.

"What's going on..?" Keith asked curiously. Rosa held up one finger, signaling him to wait as she unlocked the door. He followed her into the office and closed the door as she sat in the computer chair looking up at him. He leaned against the door, folding his arms across his chest and Rosa pursed her lips in thought.

"Keith, I need a favor from you." Rosa said, looking at him. Keith hesitated before answering, instead looking around the office. It seemed that Rosa, unlike Lance, was much more organized. Everything in the office had a place and not a thing was out of order. Keith would have to try and get Lance to take that a little more into consideration in the future.

"Okay." Keith said finally, apprehension growing the longer he had to wait for Rosa's explanation. "What is it?"

"I have a doctor's visit later this afternoon and I would like you to take me." Rosa said finally and Keith felt his heart break a little bit in his chest. "Please. I asked Veronica to have Lance come in because I need them to keep the restaurant going and Lance needs to learn. He has a lot to learn when I go. Please do this for me."

Keith felt that familiar pang of guilt, coupled with a streak of anger. Keeping her secret was one thing, but now Keith couldn't help but feel that Rosa was just being selfish. Still, he nodded in agreement. He turned to leave the office and Rosa stopped him.

"Keith... I'm not sure if you've noticed this or not," Rosa began, "But my son has a soft spot for you. Don't hurt him." Rosa had a motherly look in her eye as she said those words, but Keith didn't believe that what she said was true. He didn't think that she was lying, just that she was wrong. But what if she wasn't? What if Lance really did have feelings for him too? Keith couldn't let himself get too attached to that thought, it would kill him if he did and he was wrong. For now though, Keith would allow himself the comfort of believing what Rosa said was true, that Lance was in love with him too.

******************************************************************************

The next couple of hours passed quickly and Keith quickly got into the swing of things. It took him no time at all to pick up on the menu, the hardest part of serving, so he fell right into the groove and he took note of the fact that it always seemed to be Lance handing him his orders.

"Order up!" Lance called with bravado as he hit the bell. As if on cue, Keith was already there, ready and waiting to take the hot plates from him to serve to the customers. They made a good team, Keith had decided. Rosa asked Lance to stay until the restaurant closed and Keith recognized it as a ruse to keep him busy until they returned from Rosa's doctor's appointment. Keith had to admit, as motherly as she was, she was also cunning. He gave her credit for that. He didn't know how much longer he was going to be able to keep Lance in the dark about his mother's illness. In truth, he didn't even know what her illness was, they hadn't discussed it, nor had the time to since the first night after his argument with Marco. Still, when Rosa signaled to him that it was time for them to leave, he was sneaking past the kitchen when Lance caught him.

"Where ya going, Mullet?" Lance asked, eyebrow raised and arms folded across his chest. Keith's heart started pounding and he didn't know how to lie his way out of the situation. "Sneaking out already? Did Jamie get you smoking already?" Keith faked a laugh and he hoped Lance didn't doubt the sincerity of it.

"Nah." Keith lied. "Just getting some air. And your mom asked me to run to the store for her. I'll be back in a little while." Lance seemed to believe his fib. He nodded and handed him some cash.

"Mind picking me up a cotton candy Faygo?" Lance asked. "They're my favorite." Keith nodded.

"Sure."

"Thanks, Keith." Lance said, but the words were loaded with more than Lance was saying now. Keith nodded in understanding.

"Yeah. No problem."

Lance turned the corner to the grill and when he was out of sight, Keith exhaled a deep breath he hadn't been aware that he was holding. How any times was he going to have to lie to Lance? He hated this more than anything. He would have to convince Rosa to tell Lance the truth. But for now, he walked out of the back door to the restaurant and mentally prepared himself for the trip to the doctor. And his first time alone with Rosa since the first night on the swing.


	13. Cryin' Won't Help You Now

Lance poked his head around the corner, watching as Keith walked out of the backdoor. Lance knew that he was lying to him, but why? What secrets could Keith possibly still be keeping?

"Earth to Lance." Luis called to him, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Come on, hermano, we're busy as fuck. Get those steak strips down." Lance watched as Luis pulled a bag of steak from the freezer.

"Yeah. Yeah, sorry." Lance said, shaking the thoughts out of his head. Keith had an explanation, he was sure of it. As he worked, his thoughts wandered through all the time that he and Keith had spent together in the last week. Sitting on the trunk of his car, cooking and washing dishes together. The night they spent together on the beach. Their kiss. Lance shivered as he felt Keith's lips on his again. The butterflies it gave him were unreal. And he had pretended that he didn't remember any of it. I mean really, it had only happened because they were both drunk. Keith spent way too much time complaining about him to be into him, right?

"Aye, cabron." Luis called, snapping his fingers by Lance's ear causing him to jump. "Stop daydreaming about your boyfriend and get to work."

"He is NOT my boyfriend." Lance snapped as he dumped half of the bag of steak strips onto the grill. Luis snickered at his response, but said nothing. Even though it had only been for a day Lance felt weird without Keith there. They seemed to work in sync. As a unit. And Lance loved that. He always seemed to know what Keith needed. So why had Keith left and not told him where he was really going..? He couldn't leave now to figure it out. The best course of action was to confront him when he gt home from work.

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The next few hours passed quickly for Lance and soon, only he, Luis and the night shift waitress, Tandy were left. Tandy had worked for the McClains for years, since she and Lance were in high school together and Lance had flirted with her pretty regularly, occasionally she had indulged him but nothing serious ever came about from it.

"What's up, girl?" Lance said, smirking at her as she rolled silverware into napkins, standard closing sidework for servers. "It's been a while." Tandy smiled at him and it surprised him how beautiful she still was. Well. Not still was, it was just that people changed so much and she hadn't really changed at all.

"You tell me, handsome." Tandy shot back. "Wanna get a drink later?" Lance was surprised at her offer, they hadn't even went on a real date before he left, mostly just standard workplace banter and a lot of sexual tension. Still, it fluffed Lance's ego to know that she was still into him. Out of nowhere though, Keith flashed into his mind and he wasn't even into the flirting anymore. And so he was going to turn her down.

"I wish." Lance lied. "Gotta get home tonight, babysitting for Veronica." Lance grimaced as he heard Luis snicker in the background. "Callate, cabron." Lance turned his attention back to Tandy. "Sorry, you know how Luis is." Tandy laughed.

"Yeah, I do." Tandy said, slapping Lance's shoulder as she walked by. "It's a shame you're into that other kid though. Because you have seriously grown up and it looks good on you." Lance stood there dumbstruck as he watched her walk away. He growled in frustration.

"I am NOT into KEITH." he whined. "Why does everyone keep saying that?" He grabbed the rag he was going to use to wipe down tables and tossed it at Luis's face when he came around the corner from the grill.

"Aye. What was that for." Luis said indignantly, tossing the dirty rag into the bucket. Lance brushed past him, ignoring his brother. "Lance. Lance, where are you going?" Lance continued to tune his brother out and got in his car, throwing himself into the seat. He sat in silence for a couple of seconds before repeatedly slamming his hands against the steering wheel. He had turned down a date with Tandy knowing full well that he had no chance with Keith at all. He really was a cabron. Aye, Dios. How had he let Keith twist him all up like this? What the hell was going on? Lance refused to linger on those thoughts anymore and turned the key in the ignition. As his car roared to life, he pulled out of the driveway and headed home. He and Keith needed to talk.

************************************************************************************************************************

Lance made it home in roughly ten minutes and his mother's car was there. When did she get home? It wasn't that late, barely eight. But lance had been so busy trying to get out of the restaurant he hadn't even noticed that his mother's car was gone. Maybe she just didn't feel well and went home early. But then where was Keith? Something didn't add up and Lance was going to get to the bottom of it.

Lance got out of the car and strode up to the house with purpose. He walked up to the door and was surprised to find it unlocked. He walked inside to find the house quiet. He tried to shake the suspicion that something was wrong, but he couldn't. He walked past the living room, but it was untouched and as he walked towards the kitchen he heard hushed voices. They were arguing, he could tell that much. He strained his ears trying to figure out who the voices were. One of them was Mama. Easy enough. The other was Veronica. What was Veronica doing here this late?

"Mama, we can't keep this from Lance anymore. You crossed the line today." Veronica hissed. Keep what from Lance? He tried to move closer, but he bumped a decorative table and knocked the vase off of it. There was a crash as the vase hit the floor and shattered and he heard the footsteps of his mother and Veronica as they rounded on him.

"Lance?" Veronica said, her arms folded across her chest. "What are you doing?" She eyed him suspiciously, but he glared at her defiantly as Rosa went back to the kitchen and returned with a dust pan and hand broom.

"So what are you guys keeping from me, huh?" Lance asked accusingly, refusing the tools that were thrust upon him by Mama.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Veronica snapped, glaring at her mother. "Do you Mama?" Mama returned the glare with venom, daring her daughter to contradict her. Lance looked between the two of them.

"Just stop." Lance said, throwing his hands in the air out of exasperation. "Just stop. You know what? Forget it. I don't care. Keep your secrets. I don't wanna know." Lance stormed off, out the backdoor.

"Now look what you've done." Lance heard his mother snap at Veronica. But he didn't care. If they didn't want to include him in whatever was going on, then he wasn't going to be bothered by it. He was going to do what he always did and go sit with Kaltenecker. At least she never made him feel useless or alone. But when he got to her pen, she was nowhere to be found. He looked around frantically. He charged out of her pen, looking around the cluttered barnyard. She wasn't here. Where had she gone? She couldn't go anywhere, so why wasn't she in her pen? She had been here yesterday.

Lance ran into the house to find his mother and he did, sitting in her chair in the living room looking tired and worn down.

"Mama!" Lance said frantically. Rosa looked at him, her eyes wide with fear.

"Papito, what is it?" she asked, rising to comfort her youngest son.

"Kaltenecker. She's gone. Where is she?" Lance asked, his eyes watering. What would he do if the one creature on this Earth that had never forsaken him was gone? Rosa cupped her son's face in her hand and pulled him into her bosom. He was a head taller than her, but she did what a mother must. She tried to comfort her son.

"Papito, she was an old cow. She died this morning." Rosa said solomnly. "I'm so sorry, I should have told you." Lance broke away from her embrace and looked at her in despair. His pain was unimaginable. Now, he was alone in the world. Who would love him now? He dropped to his knees on the rug, his joints hitting the hardwood underneath with dull thuds. He didn't even feel the pain of it. His heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest and he felt like he was going to throw up any minute. But instead he stood, turned away from his mother and calmly walked up the stairs to his room.

He opened the door and found Keith, sound asleep in his bed. He didn't want to wake him, but by now he was crying too hard to be able to help it. Great. Keith was going to wake up and see him like this again and think he was this crazy, emotional disaster. And he was right. Keith did wake up. Keith didn't say anything to him, but instead, lead him to the bed and just held him. Keith let him cry it out, rubbing his back, not saying anything. He didn't ask what was wrong, he didn't say everything was going to be okay, he just held him. And strangely, it was all Lance needed.

After about five more minutes of Lance's body wracking sobs, they quieted into sniffles. Keith used his thumbs to wipe the tears from the corners of Lance's eyes.

"What's up, Ace?" Keith asked softly, still cradling him. Protecting him. Lance wiped the snot from his nose on his hand and then on his jeans.

"K-Kaltenecker died." was all Lance could manage. Keith kept rubbing his back, looking at him in pity. A fire burned in Lance's chest at that, he didn't hate anything more than that. He didn't need Keith's pity. But he looked into Keith's eyes again, it wasn't pity. It was something else that he couldn't figure out.

"Come here." Keith motioned for Lance to come lay with him. Lance oblige, laying his head on Keith's chest. He clutched at Keith's shirt, trying not to start crying again and he felt stupid. He was crying over a cow. A fucking cow. It didn't matter that the cow had been practically his best friend. It was a cow. Still though, lying here with Keith made Lance feel less alone and he needed that now more than ever.

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It didn't take Lance long to fall asleep and Keith didn't even mind how uncomfortable the position he was laying in was. All that mattered was making sure that Lance felt better. After today, he owed him that much. He made a mental note to tell Lance about the cotton candy Faygo that was waiting for him in the refrigerator downstairs tomorrow, but then his thoughts wandered to the doctor's visit with Rosa earlier in the day. That and the secret he was still keeping from Lance.

When they had arrived at the appointment, Keith hadn't even really been sure what it was for. When he learned that Rosa had breast cancer, not only now, but had fought it before and won, Keith's heart sank. That seemed like a regular thing now, Keith feeling heartbroken. And confused. And like he didn't know what to do. The more he infringed on the McClains' hospitality, the more he felt like family. The more he wanted them to be family. He cared about them in a way that he didn't even know that he could and that was only after five or six days.

The doctor had informed Rosa and Keith that the cancer had spread faster than they had predicted. Rosa only had a couple of months now as opposed to the year she was supposed to have had before. Keith had been silent most of the way home, but as they pulled into the drive, Veronica had cornered them on their way into the house.

"Mama, what the hell is wrong with you?" Veronica had asked, hurt. He couldn't tell if it was because of him or because of the secret that she had asked him to keep from Lance. "This is wrong. I can't believe you're asking Keith to do this. What do you think Lance is going to do if he finds out?"

Rosa didn't answer her daughter, she merely brushed her off and made her way inside the house. But Veronica was a dog with a bone now and she took her mother's silence as an admission of guilt.

"What do you want me to say, mamita?" Rosa had asked. "I've made my choices and it's too late for me to take them back. I have to stand by them." Veronica hadn't been satisfied with the answer and honestly, Keith was tired of being caught in the middle so he had went up to Lance's room to escape from it. But his self-imposed exclusion from the argument had left Keith pondering his own choices. Right then and there, he decided that tomorrow, either Rosa was going to tell Lance about her illness or he was. And he was going to have to live with the consequences.


	14. Touch Me I'm Going to Scream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up guys, there's some sensitive subject matter in this chapter that might be a little triggering. Please keep in mind that there are resources if you need help and if anyone needs someone to talk to, you can talk to me. We might be perfect strangers, but everyone needs help sometimes and that's perfectly okay. Again, don't read ahead if it's going to make you uncomfortable. Love you guys <3

Keith watched Lance sleep for several hours. It was the most at peace he had felt since they had spent the night by the beach and he welcomed it. He didn't even mind how comfortable it was to have part of Lance's headboard dig into his back. Okay, so he had put a pillow behind his back an hour ago, sue him. Still. He loved seeing Lance this serene. Well... Minus the obnoxious levels of snoring. Normally he probably would've been asleep by now too, but he had too many thoughts swirling around in his brain, so instead he was playing some stupid game on his phone that involved flinging birds at pigs or something. He wasn't very good at it, but it passed the time.

Suddenly, Lance stretched in his sleep, waking himself up. Keith looked down at him and smiled. He looked at the time on his phone and it read one thirty-seven. Lance yawned, sitting up.

"Good morning, sunshine." Keith said. "How are you feeling?" Keith shifted into a more comfortable position and Lance turned to face him. He had red splotches on his face from where his head had been pressed up against Keith's chest.

"Better." Lance said softly. "Thanks." Lance gave Keith a small smile that made his heart flutter in his chest. Keith swallowed thickly, unsure what to say next. "I can't believe Kaltenecker is gone." Lance said, he voice barely rising above a whisper. He turned away from Keith in that moment and Keith was unsure whether Lance was going to start crying again.

"Do you need anything?" Keith said, scooting closer to him. "What can I do?" Lance was silent for a few minutes, before taking his shirt off. Keith inhaled sharply, surprised.

"Just you." Lance said softly. "Sorry, that sounded weird." Keith shook his head.

"No. It didn't." Keith said reassuringly. "I'm here for you. I promise." And Keith meant every word.

"I can't believe Christmas is next week and we haven't decorated yet." Lance mused, changing the subject. Keith had honestly completely forgotten about the holiday. Nobody had really made mention of it since they had arrived and everyone had been so wrapped up in their own things that he wasn't really all that surprised by it. He thought back to the two Christmases he had already spent with Lance. He complained about the decorations that Lance had always insisted on putting up around the apartment, even the tree. The caroling that Lance forced the entire group, including a kicking and screaming Pidge, to participate in before he went home for the week to see his family. This Christmas was a far cry from that. He was going to experience what Lance had gotten every year since birth. That pit of jealousy roared in his stomach again, yearning for life that he should've had.

"Keith? Are you okay?" Lance asked bringing Keith back down to reality.

"What?" Keith asked. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me, you've got enough going on." Lance shifted uncomfortably and the comforter fell off the bed with his change in position. Keith scooped it up and threw it back onto the bed, intentionally hitting Lance.

"I'm serious." Lance said determinedly, brows furrowed again. "You've been acting really weird." Keith knew that Lance was right. He also knew that Lance wasn't as stupid as he previously believed. He admired that Lance was actually far more sensitive and observant than he had ever given him credit for before the time he had spent here. Before Keith could answer, his phone started ringing. He looked at the caller ID. It was Shiro.

"Uh. It's Shiro." Keith said awkwardly. "He's probably worried about me." Lance nodded in understanding.

"Go ahead." Lance encouraged, though it was clear that the subject wasn't dropped, but Keith was grateful for the opportunity to regroup and get his thoughts together before they revisited the topic.

"I'm sorry." Keith said before exiting the room. He felt Lance's eyes on his back as he closed the door behind him. He stepped quietly down the stairs so as to not wake Luis or Rosa and he made it to the first landing with no problems as he hit the answer key on his phone.

"Shiro? You're calling late." Keith said as he stepped outside the front door, closing it gently behind him and sitting on the porch swing.

"Yeah. I'm sorry about that." Shiro said. "Couldn't sleep, got in a fight with Adam. It's been a long day. But how are things with you and Lance?" Keith adjusted himself on the swing so that he could sit cross legged.

"They're fine. Better than fine, actually." Keith lied. I'm in love with him and his mother is dying but I can't tell him either of those things. That's what he wanted to say, but he couldn't bring himself to be honest with Shiro. He didn't need a lecture or a pep talk. He needed to grow a pair and tell Lance the truth on both counts.

"That's good. I'm glad you haven't killed each other yet." Shiro said. "Pidge and Hunk have a bet going that you're either going to kill each other or declare your undying love before the trip is over. They even got Allura in on it." Keith gave a humorless laugh.

"I think we're more likely to kill each other before this trip is over than anything else." Keith said. That at least he could be honest about, no matter how much he wanted to declare his love for Lance.

"You're gonna be fine. This trip is a good thing for you." Shiro said. Keith knew that he was right. "You've gotten far too comfortable being alone and it's not good for you." Right again.

"What's going on with you and Adam?" Keith said, trying to shift the topic of conversation off of himself and Lance. Shiro took the bait and Keith breathed a sigh of relief.

"He's just stressing himself out about work, we'll be fine. No big deal." Shiro replied. "But I'll let you go. You sound tired. Get some sleep, Keith."

Keith sighed. "You too, Shiro. I'll call you in the morning."

"No, you won't. But that's okay." Shiro joked. "We'll talk soon though. Have a good Christmas." Keith didn't reply to him, but the line went dead and Keith tucked his phone into the waistband of his shorts. He decided not to head back inside right away, it felt nice outside and some time to breathe would be really good for him. Too bad he'd left his headphones inside. Instead he just stretched out on the swing, one leg hanging over the arm and the other hanging off the swing, his head resting in the crook of his right elbow. He looked up at the stretch of sky that he could see and took in its beauty. He had never seen so many stars before. It was breathtaking the way that they glittered. It gave him hope for the next day. He needed to have more of that. Yeah. He was content just laying here for a while.

Keith gave it a half hour before he decided to go back up to try and get to sleep and check on Lance. He took the stairs two at a time and opened the door to Lance's room. The sight when he opened the door gave him a heart attack. Lance was splayed out across the bed, eyes closed. A bloody knife laid on the floor, fallen from his hand which was dripping from blood that pulsed from his wrist.

"LANCE!" Keith cried, bounding over to him. "Wake UP, Lance! Come on, don't do this to me please. I love you, don't do this to me. LUIS! LUIS!" Keith tied a shirt around Lance's wrists to try and stem the flow, but they were drenched before Keith could find his phone. He scrambled to his feet as he dialed 9-1-1. Luis, having been awakened by the commotion, was at the door in seconds in nothing but his boxers. Keith's eyes scanned the room, there was blood all over the floor, the bed. All over Lance. Oh, Lance. Keith fought back tears as the phone rang.

"MAMA!" Luis cried, racing to his mother's room to wake her as Keith got on the line with the dispatcher.

"9-1-1, what's your-" The dispatcher couldn't even get the whole sentence out before Keith cut her off, frantic.

"Please, you have to send someone right now. My friend, he tried to kill himself." Keith cried into the phone, tears flowing now.

"I need you to breathe." The dispatcher said calmly. "How did he try to hurt himself?" Keith's brain wasn't working and the fact that Luis had returned with Rosa who was now in hysterics, cradling her youngest son, did nothing to help.

"He cut his wrists." Keith said softly, struggling to get the words out. "I bandaged them, but I don't... I don't know how long he's been like this."

Keith stood, pacing around the room.

"Does he have a pulse?" The dispatcher asked. Keith placed his first two fingers on Lance's neck. He didn't feel it at first, but he pressed down harder and there it was. Barely there. "There's an ambulance on the way, does he have a pulse." Keith was nodding, but he remembered that she couldn't see him.

"Yes. Yes he has a pulse." Keith said, trying to regain control of his breathing. His heart was beating out of chest and he thought he might be having an out of body experience. This couldn't be happening. Not his beautiful, perfect Lance. Why had he left him? He was an idiot. This was his fault. All his fault.

"The ambulance is six minutes away, I'm going to stay on the line with you until it arrives, okay?" the dispatcher said. Keith knew she was trying to help, but nothing was going to help until he knew Lance was going to be okay. He had to be okay. He loved him too much. Keith dropped the phone and let out a cry unlike anything he had ever experienced before. Luis picked up his phone and spoke to the operator in Keith's place.

Keith crawled up to Lance and cradled him in his arms. Lance had to be okay... He just had to.

"I love you." Keith whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter dives head first into a sensitive subject, so if this makes anyone uncomfortable, I have no problem changing the story arc as I wrote this chapter two ways. Please be respectful in feedback, I tried to handle it as delicately as I could.


	15. Asleep At Heaven's Gate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith finally admits what everyone else knew all along

When the ambulance arrived to take Lance to the hospital, Rosa and Luis hopped in. Keith was distraught that there wasn't room for him, but he made no protest. He wasn't family, after all. It didn't take long for Veronica, Marco and Laura to arrive with the kids in tow. Veronica's boyfriend whose name Keith didn't remember agreed to keep the kids. Veronica asked Laura to stay behind as well. She agreed with no hesitation, wanting to do what was best for the family. Veronica, Keith and Marco piled into Marco's truck and Marco raced to the hospital as if his own life depended on it.

"I get it now." Keith whispered. Veronica looked at him, tear tracks glittering down her face in the dark. Marco's grip on the steering wheel tightened instinctively.

"What?" Veronica asked, confused by Keith's statement. Keith didn't blame her. There were a lot of emotions flying around and Keith wasn't doing a very good job of processing his own. That wasn't exactly how he wanted to tell Lance that he loved him. He had imagined every possible scenario in his mind for the moment that he would tell Lance how he felt about him and that never crossed his mind for a second. Why would it? Lance always seemed so... Happy. Content. Free. Hell, he made Keith feel all of those things just by proxy. Being near him was enough to make Keith forget that rest of the world existed and now he wasn't even sure if he would be able to really tell Lance how he felt about him... He had to be here for that. Stop it Keith. You'll be able to tell him soon.

"He's done this before, right?" Keith asked, mortified at his own boldness. But now wasn't the time to be meek. They needed to be here for Lance, but if Keith was going to do that, he needed answers. He needed truth. Veronica gave an almost imperceptible nod before breaking down in tears again. Keith looked at Marco, saw a single tear roll down his cheek.

The trio arrived at the hospital and wasted no time meeting Rosa and Luis in the waiting room. Keith noted that Luis had barely thrown clothes on, wearing a pair of ratty shorts and only a zipped up hoodie. Rosa was still in her nightclothes. Keith looked down at himself and realized he was still covered in Lance's blood. He felt empty inside, like all of his organs had been liquified and scooped out.

The doctor came out not long after they made it to Rosa and Luis. He explained that Lance had lost a lot of blood, but that he was stable and sleeping. Rosa thanked God profusely and she and Veronica clutched at each other, both of them sobbing. Marco was stonefaced and Luis looked like he would rather be anywhere else.

"When can we see him?" Keith heard Marco ask. He didn't hear the doctor's reply, he was too busy throwing up in the nearest trash can. He felt a comforting hand on his back and looked up to see Veronica looking down at him. He wiped his face on his arm and excused himself to the bathroom. This was the second time in the last few weeks that he was in a hospital because of Lance. At lease the first time he had known that Lance was going to be okay. Keith turned the faucet on and cupped his hands under the running water, filling them up so he could rinse out his mouth. He swished the water around for a couple of seconds before spitting into the sink. He cupped his hands again, this time splashing his face. He gripped the edges of the sink and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked like a crazy person. His eyes were red and puffy from crying and there were bags from hell under his eyes. He took the elastic band from his wrist and tied his hair back before looking back down at the sink.

"Keith... Are you okay?" A voice asked. Keith jumped, he'd been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't heard the door open, but he looked up and saw Luis. "I heard what you said to Lance... You know... Before the ambulance came."

"Oh." was all Keith could manage.

"Is it true?" Luis asked, walking over to Keith, a hard look in his eyes.

"Yeah." Keith said bluntly. "Yeah, it's uh... It's true." Keith laughed mirthlessly. "Not really how I wanted to tell him." Luis nodded in understanding.

"You'll get the chance." Luis said earnestly. "Come on, we should get back. We don't want you to be alone." Keith couldn't help but be surprised at Luis's kindness, they hadn't spent much time together in the time that Keith had been visiting. Nevertheless, Keith followed Luis out of the bathroom and back to the rest of the family. He took a seat between Rosa and Veronica and Rosa took both of Keith's hands in her own. All they could do now was wait. The rest was up to Lance.

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Lance awoke with a start at home in his own bed. Except... His room was spotless. There was nothing.

"What the fuck?" he muttered to himself. This was crazy. He stood up and his head was pounding, still though, he crossed the room to his door and made his way out into the hall. "Mama?" he called. Nothing. No response. "Keith?" Again, no response. "Anyone?" Still nothing. Weird.

Lance made his way down the stairs, almost breaking into a run as he entered the kitchen. Instead of seeing his mother or Keith though, there was only a man that he didn't recognize sitting at the table. He looked familiar though, but Lance just couldn't put his finger on where he recognized him from.

"Lance." the man said, smiling broadly at him. Then the realization hit him.

"Papa?" Lance said incredulously. "What the hell? What's going on? You're dead. Am I? Am I dead?" Lance's thoughts bordered on hysteria as he took a seat at the table, cradling his face in his hands. "Dios, what did I do? I'm dead aren't I? You're here to tell me I'm dead."

"You're not dead, mijo." Lance's father said, looking at him sadly. "Not... Not yet anyway." Lance looked up at him, eye narrowed.

"I'm being Punk'd, aren't I?" Lance asked. This wasn't real. "Did Luis put you up to this? I'll fucking kill that kid." He looked around expecting his brother to jump out at any moment to reveal that it was all an elaborate joke.

"Lance, this is real. You're dying." his father said soberly and Lance's attention snapped back to his father.

"The last thing I remember is waiting for Keith to come back..." Lance whispered. Tears welled up in his eyes. "What did I do?"

"Lance, we don't have a lot of time." his father said gently. "We need to talk about what happened." Lance looked up at his dad angrily.

"Why? What's the point? Why do I have to talk to you?" Lance snapped at his father. "You left me. I didn't even get the chance to remember you." Lance's father didn't even flinch at that. He had plenty of time to regret his mistakes.

"And that's something that I had to come to terms with." Lance's father replied gently. "But you need to think about the consequences your actions are going to have on the people that love you. Your mother. Your brothers and your sister. Your nieces and nephews. Keith." Lance snapped to attention at the sound of Keith's name.

"What the hell do you know about Keith." Lance asked accusingly. Lance's father chuckled softly.

"Lance, I see everything." he replied. "I've seen enough to know how you feel about him. And how he feels about you." Lance rolled his eyes. It's not like he was drawing their names in hearts in his notebooks. Fucking Christ. What did he know?

"What the hell do you mean how he feels about me?" Lance snapped angrily. "All he ever says is that I annoy him or he tells me to shut up or... Or..." Lance scowled at his father when he saw the look that he was giving him with his eyebrow raised.

"Yes?" he said, with a smirk reminiscent of Lance's own. When Lance didn't answer, his father started speaking again. "Lance, you have to go back."

Lance sighed in exasperation. "I know."

"Don't make my mistakes, son." his father said softly, a hint of regret coloring his eyes. "Don't leave the people that love you." Realization dawned on Lance then.

"Did you...?" Lance didn't know how to ask the question without sounding insensitive as fuck.

"Yes, Lance." his father answered solomnly. Lance started to cry. "Lance you need to go back."

"I want to go back. I want to go back." Lance cried. Lance's father nodded.

"I love you, son." was the last thing Lance heard before everything faded to black.

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Keith paced around Lance's hospital room, stealing a glance at him every now and then for a sign that his condition would change. His wrists bore heavy, white bandages and it was hard for Keith to see them. Keith was surprised that Lance's family had agreed that Keith could stay the night with Lance alone on the condition that he call if anything changed. Keith had agreed in haste. He had no desire to leave Lance's side. Now or ever.

Suddenly, Keith heard a cough. Lance coughed. He practically ran to Lance's bedside.

"Lance?" Keith asked frantically. "Lance, are you awake?" Lance's eyelids fluttered slowly and Keith breathed what felt like a million sighs of relief. "Lance. You're awake. Say something. Please. Talk. Talk, Lance." Lance winced in pain.

"Ow." he choked out and Keith broke down in tears. "Wassup. I'm kay."

"Don't ever do this to me again." Keith said through his tears.

"I love you." Lance said, the first thing that he said clearly and Keith was dumbstruck.

"What did you just say?" Keith asked, desperately.

"I love you, Keith." Lance whisper, looking up at Keith. Keith could tell by the look in his Lance's eyes that he meant it.

"I love you." Keith said. His heart was going to explode from the joy of it. Words he never thought he would hear in a million years. "I love you."

"Say it again." Lance said.

"I love you." Keith said, he had no issues obliging that particular request. Lance laughed at that.

"Say it again." Lance repeated. And Keith grinned. He would never be able to say it enough.

"You're an ass, Ace." Keith said, kissing Lance's forehead.

"You wound me." Lance joked. Keith looked down at him, a scared look crossing his face. "Too soon?" Lance cracked.

"Shut up," Keith said laughing. "I have to call your mom." Lance shook his head fervently.

"Don't. Not yet." Lance pleaded. "She wouldn't be able to come until tomorrow anyway. I just want to be here with you." Keith nodded, laying next to Lance in his cramped hospital bed.

"Whatever you want." Keith said as Lance snuggled up to him. This wasn't how he pictured spending their first night together after declaring their love for each other, but you know what? It would have to do, because at least Lance was here for him to declare his love to. And he would spend every day reminding him for the rest of his life. "Fuck."

"What's wrong?" Lance asked, confused.

"Pidge won her bet." Keith cracked and he and Lance laughed into the night.


	16. I and Love and You

Lance was home in a couple of days with a prescription for anti-depressants and a referral to see a therapist that he promised both Keith and his mother profusely that he would see, no questions asked.

"Keith?" Lance said as an orderly wheeled him to the main entrance of the hospital. Keith was following close behind him, Lance's car keys in hand. He had been eternally grateful that Marco and Veronica had dropped off Lance's car for when Lance was going to be released. Lance seemed to be in much better spirits the last few days.

"Yes?" Keith asked, his eyebrow raised apprehensively. Lance had been especially adorable since the night they had finally told each other how they felt about each other.

"I love you." Lance said, grinning up at him. Keith couldn't help but grin back, his cheeks turning pink. The orderly laughed and Keith himself gave a small chuckle.

"I love you too, Ace." Keith said tenderly as they made it through the automatic sliding doors. "I'll be right back." Keith looked back at Lance and saw him exaggeratedly blow a kiss in his direction. Keith shook his head laughing.

"Nice ass!" Lance shouted across the hospital courtyard. Keith's ears burned with embarrassment, but he loved every second of it. He knew that he wasn't going to be Lance's cure all, but he hoped that he could help Lance find his peace. Still, with all of the confessions that came after Lance's attempt, Keith still had one secret that was eating away at his bones and now he had no idea how to handle it. There was never going to be a right time to tell him, and he couldn't keep it from him any longer. He had overheard Marco and Veronica outside Lance's hospital room on the second night of his stay and he was scared that Lance was going to wake up and hear them so he went outside and shut it down before it could progress past heated whispers. Then wasn't the time to discuss it. But really, when was?

Keith shoved those thoughts to the side as he got in the driver's seat of Lance's car. The only important thing right now was that Lance was coming home. He couldn't wait to cuddle at home in Lance's bed. They hadn't kissed yet and that was something that Keith was apprehensive about. He didn't count the drunken one on the beach. Lance didn't even remember it and he planned on making their first real kiss as memorable as possible.

Keith pulled the car around and got out to help Lance into the car.

"Oh, knock it off Mullet, I'm not an invalid. I can get in the car myself." Lance protested as Keith and the orderly tried to help Lance into the car. Lance was right about that at least. He shouldn't be treated like he was damaged goods. He was perfect, at least to Keith. What else mattered?

As they started the drive home, Lance was back to his regular self. Singing obnoxiously to the radio, making Keith laugh at his antics, even planting a large, messy kiss on Keith's cheek at a stop light. Keith couldn't help it when he rested his hand on Lance's thigh as Lance was looking out the window towards the beach. He felt Lance stiffen under his touch and moved to pull his hand back. Lance grabbed his hand, holding it there, lacing their fingers together.

"You can touch me." Lance said, turning to look Keith in the eyes. "I'm yours, you can touch me whenever you want." Keith loved hearing those words come from Lance's mouth and he fought the irresistible urge to kiss Lance right there. Instead he just smiled at turned his attention back to the road. They were holding hands and Keith loved it. All thee pieces were falling into place.

Still, with all the fuss surrounding Lance, they were far behind on getting everything ready for Christmas and Keith wanted to make sure that Lance's Christmas was perfect, regardless of how much he detested the holiday. He would learn to love it for the man he loved. As they pulled into the driveway, Keith was surprised and Lance let out a squeal of joy. In their absence, the house had been completely transformed. Christmas lights hung from the railings, garland wrapped around the banisters. Keith knew it wasn't going to be a white Christmas, but he'd be damned if it didn't look like the front of a Christmas card, just a slightly more tropical one.

"It's perfect." Lance whispered, bringing Keith's hand to his lips. Keith felt his skin burn where Lance's lips touched them, his blood felt supercharged in his veins.

"Yeah, it is." Keith agreed. And it was. Keith grabbed Lance's bag out of the backseat as they trekked up to the front door. As they entered the house, Keith inhaled sharply. The inside looked better than the outside. A large tree adorned the living room, the furniture having been rearranged to accommodate the new addition to the decor. String lights ran across the moldings and a sprig of mistletoe hung in the doorway to the living room. Lance looked up at it and then at Keith mischievously and suddenly their faces were inches apart. Keith's heart was pounding in his chest as Lance moved closer to him. He looked up to the taller man and felt Lance's hand in the curve of his back. Just as their lips were about to meet however, they were interrupted by the screech of Lance's mother. The two boys jumped a mile apart, both red with embarrassment.

"Papito! You're home!" Rosa exclaimed, showering her son with hugs and kisses on both of his cheeks. "I didn't think you would be released until later. The house isn't done yet, I wanted it to be perfect for you." Lance blushed a scorching red and Keith thought it was adorable.

"It's perfect Mama." Lance said reassuringly as she embraced him again. "Okay, Mama, you're crushing me. Can't. Breathe." Rosa finally released her son and then pulled Keith into a warm embrace as well. It took him by surprise and it took him a minute to give into it.

"I'm so glad you're both home." Rosa fussed. "I haven't even started dinner. Look at me." Rosa's face was wet with tears and she dabbed at them with the corner of her sleeve.

"Mama, are you crying?" Lance asked, leaping to what he thought was his mother's aid. She shooed him away.

"Happy tears, Papito." she said, swatting him. "Happy tears." She laughed when he protested her hitting him after only being home for a day.

"How's a man supposed to feel?" he asked indignantly. Keith prodded him gently. It was a little too soon for jokes, at least for him. They had almost lost him and that wasn't something that Keith or his family was going to forget for a while. Rosa paid him no mind though, and bustled into the kitchen to prepare dinner after telling them that the rest of the family would be coming over for dinner to celebrate Lance's return home. When Rosa was gone, Lance pulled Keith back into him.

"Where were we?" Lance asked, his voice a low growl in his throat. Lance's forwardness turned Keith on immensely, but he would rather not make out with his new boyfriend in Rosa's living room where anyone could walk in.

"Not here." Keith said, extricating himself from Lance's arms. Lance pouted folding his arms across his chest.

"Hmph."

"Oh, knock that off." Keith said with a smirk. "You want to be responsible for giving your mother a heart attack?" Lance sighed in exasperation.

"Fine." Lance said, giving in. "But to be fair, if you declaring your love for her youngest son didn't do it, she's got a heart of steel." Keith laughed and took Lance's hand as Lance led him up the stairs. Keith's breathed hitched though, when he realized that neither of them had been in Lance's room since that night. He hadn't had time to clean it up before they made it home. Lance didn't seem to be thinking about that though, he was looking at Keith ravenously as he opened the door. Keith moved to stop him but when he saw the room, he realized he didn't have to. The room was spotless. Fresh sheets, fluffed pillows. Both of their laundry was folded neatly on Lance's bed. There was no evidence to suggest that anything bad had ever happened here. Still... The memories were etched into Keith's brain and he felt the bile rise in his throat. Lance practically dragged Keith into the room and suddenly, Keith's focus was back where it belonged. On Lance.

"Right now?" Keith asked as Lance took off his shirt. Not that he was complaining. Lance was sexy as fuck and Keith eyed his boyfriend's body hungrily. Lance smirked at Keith's suggestion.

"Of course not!" Lance replied in a scandalized tone. "What do you take me for?!"

"A cheap slut?" Keith offered. Lance let out a noise of mock pain as he collapsed onto the bed.

"Words hurt ya know, Mullet." Lance said, wiping away fake tears. "Come lay with me and make it better." Lance grabbed Keith by his wrist and gently pulled him down to the bed with him.

"What about your mom?" Keith asked nervously, scared that Rosa would charge into the room any second.

"She's busy." Lance said, kissing Keith's cheek while simultaneously pulling him into his chest. Keith looked up at Lance longingly and a low growl escaped Lance's throat. It was hot.

"Oh yeah?" Keith whispered, their faces breaths apart yet again. Lance palmed Keith's cheek and Keith shivered at the touch. It felt like a jolt of electricity that set his nerves on fire. And then Lance pulled him into a kiss. Not just a peck. A searing, longing, pour your heart into it, kiss. Keith felt every nerve in his body light on fire as his mouth molded to Lance's like they were made for each other. Hell, they were made for each other. Keith parted his lips slightly, sighing into the kiss. Lance just pulled him in tighter and Keith felt Lance's tongue slip into his mouth, massaging his own. This was going to go down as the best kiss of Keith's life, he was sure of it. He was acutely aware of Lance's hands roaming his body and he felt one of them slide up his shirt, tracing the ridges of his taut, muscled back. Keith wanted to stay like this forever, tangled up in Lance and shutting out the rest of the world. Their lips parted and Keith was breathless. Lance's face was beet red and he was panting. He grinned at Keith and Keith just wanted to kiss him again.

"How was that for a second kiss?" Lance smirked. Keith relaxed into Lance before realizing what Lance had said. Second kiss? He remembered? Keith jerked up, looking at Lance in surprise. "What? Surprised?"

"I didn't think you remembered." Keith whispered incredulously.

"How could I not remember my first kiss with Keith 'Mullethead' Kogane?" Lance asked slyly. "That moment is down in history. We'll be telling our kids about it some day." Kids? Lance wanted to have kids with him? Keith's heart felt so full that it ached in the best possible way.

"Maybe we should leave out some details." Keith joked. Lance obliged him with a small chuckle as he ran his fingers down Keith's back.

"Oh no. They're getting the whole scoop." Lance said, snickering. "Just... Maybe not until they're older." That, Keith could live with and he laid his head back down on Lance's chest. He couldn't hold it back anymore and he went in for another kiss.

"Geez, Mullet, you just can't get enough of m-" Lance didn't finish his sentence, his lips were too busy responding to Keith's. The kiss intensified and Lance reached for the hem of Keith's shirt, pulling it up. Keith did the job for him, tossing it across the room before returning his attention to Lance's lips. Keith loved the feeling of Lance's hands all over him. It made him feel sexy. Wanted. Everything that he didn't think he could feel. At least until Lance's bedroom door flew open.

"Aye, Dios!" Luis shouted. "My eyes! Put some clothes on, sheesh!" Lance hurled his pillow at Luis who dodged it, blocking his view of Lance and Keith tangled up together with the doorframe. 

"Then knock first, cabron!" he shouted back laughing as Keith buried his face Lance's chest, face burning red hot with embarrassment.

"Mama said come down for dinner." Luis said, shielding his eyes with his hands as he stuck his tongue out at the pair of them before bolting down the stairs. Lance sighed heavily.

"It was too good to last." he shook his head ruefully, before sitting up.

"Don't worry, Ace." Keith whispered seductively in Lance's ear. "There's plenty more where that came from." With that, he got up and retrieved his lost shirt, yanking it back down over his head. With in seconds, Lance had already crossed the room to him, grabbing him by the waist and pulling him in.

"Oh, yeah?" Lance whispered in Keith's ear, nipping at playfully. "Tease."

"You haven't seen anything yet." Keith hissed back, wrenching himself free of Lance's grasp and tossing him a longing glance over his shoulder ass he traipsed out of the room. Fuck. Keith grinned to himself. Lance was good. He sighed, contentedly. This was going to be the best Christmas that he had ever had.


	17. Early Mornin'

Before Lance knew it, it was two days before Christmas and he couldn't have been more excited if he tried. For once, this morning he had woken up before Keith. Lance considered it strange because Keith was usually such an early riser, especially when they were at home, always going to the gym bright and early before morning classes. Today was different though. Lance could feel it in the air. It was a good feeling. He had been up for a little while now, just watching Keith sleep. Unlike himself, Keith was a peaceful sleeper. He just laid on Lance's chest, his arm wrapped around his torso, head right over his heart. As much as Lance wanted to move, he didn't want to wake his boyfriend. He leaned down and kissed Keith's forehead, brushing his hair away from his face. God, Keith was beautiful.

As if on cue, Keith began to stir and Lance smiled sweetly down at him.

"Good morning, handsome." Keith mumbled softly. Kissing the spot on Lance's chest where his head had been resting. Keith lips lit in a fire in Lance's groin and the morning wood he hadn't noticed he had began to throb. Keith began to kiss upwards from Lance's chest, his collarbone, his shoulder, his neck, all the way up to his lips. Lance moaned into the kiss and they fought for dominance of the kiss and Keith straddled Lance, pinning his arms above his head.

"Good morning to you." Lance said seductively. They kissed again, their lips melting together, Keith permitted Lance's tongue entrance into his mouth before leaving searing hot kisses down Lance's jawline, sucking on a spot on his neck. "You wanna do it now?" Lance asked urgently. His boner raged and throbbed trapped inside his boxer briefs, begging to be set free. Keith nodded and that was all the answer that Lance needed. He practically ripped Keith's shirt off, frustrated that he even slept in one anyway. Who slept in clothes? He was excited to see Keith naked and to feel his body on him. He wanted to explore every inch of him. Keith looked at Lance longingly and it drove him crazy. 

He crawled out from under Keith, flipping the smaller man on his back. He loved how lean and taut Keith's body was. He kissed Keith deeply before kissing down his neck and chest, flicking over his left nipple with his tongue and teasing lightly with his teeth. He felt Keith's body shiver under him and knew that he was driving him as crazy as he felt.

"God." Keith whispered, it was all he could manage. Lance looked up at him devilishly.

"Comparing me to God now?" Lance asked teasingly, "High praise from you." Keith snorted, but the snort turned into a moan as Lance turned his attention to Keith's other nipple. Lance looked up at Keith seductively as he trailed kisses from the midline of his pectoral muscles, down his abs, tracing his tongue along the ridges. Lance felt Keith's body shiver in pleasure again as he suckled on several spots, rolling his tongue over them as he kissed his way down the very light happy trail below Keith's belly button. Keith's breath hitched as Lance hooked his fingers around the waistband of his workout shorts and yanked them down to Keith's knees. Lance watched mesmerized as Keith's thick cock sprang free. Lance grinned up at Keith before tracing his tongue from the base of it to the tip. Keith's dick was bigger than Lance had anticipated and that only excited him even more.

Keith's body tightened measurably as Lance wrapped his mouth around the head of his cock, his tongue doing laps around it, teasing him. And then, without giving Keith a warning, he sank down several inches. He relished in the reaction Keith gave him as he bucked his hips upwards, forcing more of his cock down Lance's throat. Lance loved every second of it. He loved seeing Keith so undone like this. It was beautiful. Keith was beautiful. He lavished Keith's boner with attention and Keith responded by taking hold of a fistful of Lance's hair as Lance bobbed his head down, taking so much of Keith in his mouth that he could feel him in the back of his throat. He slid his cock out slowly and Keith could do nothing except moan in ecstasy. Lance loved making Keith feel good.

"Oh God, Lance." Keith said urgently. Lance could feel his cock throbbing in his mouth. He traced the tip of his tongue over Keith's slit, eliciting another shiver of pleasure from his lover. He could taste the pre-cum and he loved it. "I'm gonna cum any-Second." Lance pulled Keith's cock from his lips with a loud pop and took to stroking him with his hand. Keith's body jerked with every pump.

"Come for me." Lance ordered, looking up at Keith. His eyes were closed, Lance couldn't have that. "No, no." he said. "I want you to watch me make you feel good." Keith followed his order with great difficulty, but there he was, looking right into Lance's eyes as Lance took his cock back into his mouth. The pleasure was too much for Keith and his hips bucked one final time as he released into Lance's mouth. Lance sucked every drop of his lover up before crawling back up to him and giving him a long, deep kiss.

"Ohmyfuckinggod." Keith said breathlessly, his eyes closing as he came down from his high. "You, Lance McClain, are going to be the death of me." Lance smirked, knowing that he had been the reason for Keith's ecstasy.

"There's plenty more where that came from." Lance whispered in Keith's ear, echoing his former words. But before Keith could respond, there was a hard knock on the door, before it flew open to reveal Rosa. Keith and Lance both scrambled to cover themselves up, to no avail. Rosa looked unfazed.

"I take it neither of you wanted breakfast?" she said sharply. "Hmph." She promptly closed the door and Lane and Keith sat there, both looking mortified before breaking down into raucous laughter a couple of seconds later.

"Do you think she's going to say something?" Keith asked, wiping a tear from his eyes as the laughter subsided.

"Believe it or not, that's happened before." Lance admitted, the tips of his ears turning red. "I think after she accepted that her youngest child was having sex, she just stopped trying to ignore it." Lance was just happy that she didn't walk in while he'd had Keith's cock in his mouth. Something he couldn't wait to do again.

"Your turn." Keith said pushing Lance down on the bed.

"Unfortunately for us both, we both have things to do today." Lance said, kissing Keith on the cheek before getting up and grabbing clean clothes and a towel, slipping on some basketball shorts and exiting the room to shower. Keith laid down on the bed, still naked, with no desire to ever leave it.


	18. Truth Doesn't Make a Noise

After a shower, Keith made his way down the stairs and upon entering the kitchen was greeted by Isabella, Luke and Liam. The hugged him excitedly and Keith loved that they loved him so much. Rosa fussed around the kitchen over her grandchildren, smiling at Keith, before offering him a coffee mug. He admired the red porcelain, turning it over in his hands before crossing the kitchen to reach the always running coffee pot. Liam and Luke charged around him as he reached for the post, nearly spilling the hot liquid on himself.

"Ninos!" Rosa called. "Toma esto afuerta si te gustaria correr, gracias." Keith was now used to the rapid fire Spanish he would hear throughout the day and he actually kind of enjoyed it. He picked up on little things here and there, but he had made Lance promise to try and teach him at some point when they made it home. He wanted to be able to hold a conversation in Spanish with Lance's family if and when he was ever invited back. Rosa was all smiles this morning even though she looked more tired than usual. Keith tried to keep the negative thoughts from entering his brain as she hovered over the dishes from that morning. The worry lines on her forehead had become more pronounced and the wrinkles around her eyes and mouth had multiplied. Keith was surprised and grateful that she made no mention of his and Lance's early morning escapades, especially when Lance came bounding down the stairs, full of life.

"Buenos Dias, Mama!" Lance crowed. His mother gave him a loving scowl, kissing him on the cheek.

"Buenos Dias, Papito." she replied lovingly. "Termine de lavar estos platos para mi, por favor. Estoy cansado." Keith didn't know what she had said until she disappeared down the hall and Lance took over doing the dishes.

"Wanna help, Mullet?" Lance asked, a sneaky glint in his eyes. Keith winked at him, before getting up and joining him at the sink. He wasn't sure if Lance had asked him because he just didn't want to do it or because he wanted the company, but for now, Keith didn't care about that. He was just enjoying the time he got to spend with Lance as he washed and Lance dried. Keith picked up the bright pink sponge that Rosa had been working with and got to work.

He felt Lance's eyes on him as he washed one of Rosa's white porcelain plates and gooseflesh began to rise on the back of his neck. He snuck a peek at Lance and Lance leaned over and gave Keith a peck on the lips. Keith smiled at him and Lance returned it with one of his crooked half smiles that Keith adored. They might not always be this perfect, but Keith was content with where they were for now. And then the thought dawned on Keith that he still hadn't bought Lance a Christmas present. And Christmas was in three days. How could he have been so forgetful? He leaned up kissing Lance's cheek though and pretended everything was fine.

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************

They finished the dishes in no time at all and soon, Lance had to head to work at the restaurant to fill in for a cook who had called out sick. He gave Keith a lingering kiss before handing him his car keys.

"I thought you had to go work?" Keith asked, confused, but he snorted with laughter as Liam and Luke ran outside to meet their father.

"Marco is going to pick me up." Lance replied, "I'll see you when I get home." Keith smiled, he loved hearing things like that. Lance made for the door before turning again. "Hey, Keith."

"Yeah?"

"I love you." Lance said sweetly.

"I love you." Keith replied softly, looking up at his boyfriend like a lovestruck teenager. He watched as Lance left to meet Marco and decided this was the perfect opportunity to get Lance's Christmas present. He pulled out his phone and ignored the missed text messages from Shiro, Allura, Pidge and Hunk went straight for Veronica's number. He wasn't sure how she would respond, he had only ever spent time with her with Lance.

"Keith, this is a surprise!" Veronica chirped, she seemed happy to hear from him. "What's up?" Keith chuckled a little bit as he heard Veronica reprimand Isabella in the background.

"You sound like you have your hands full, bad time?" Keith asked as he choked on a laugh. He was kind of hoping she'd take the out he was trying to give her, but on one hand it would be really nice to bond with Lance's sister.

"No, no." Veronica said reassuringly, just trying to get the kids settled for lunch. "Something on your mind?"

"Well, I haven't done any Christmas shopping yet and I was hoping that you'd wanna come with me?" Keith said, his sentence turning into a question faster than he'd hoped. He sounded like a skittish little puppy that Veronica was going to scare away. His ears burned as they turned bright red.

"Yeah, that sounds great!" Veronica said cheerfully, "I need to get out of this house anyway." Keith couldn't help but smile to himself. Today was going to be fun. He liked spending time with Lance's family, it made him feel whole and loved. It made him forget about all of the things that had held him back for his whole life. He was so grateful to them for showing him what it was like to have a family and that was something he never wanted to lose.

Keith felt buoyed like he never had. This new sense of self that he felt... This new perspective. Lance was responsible for it. The least likely person imaginable. Keith found himself smiling all the time now at the most random intervals. A couple of times Lance had even called him out on it and Keith had blushed red like he didn't even know he could. Keith wasn't someone who was ruffled easily, but Lance just had this way of catching him off guard. Lance was changing him for the better and he liked to think that Lance was changing too. He seemed happier now. Free. They hadn't talked about his trip to the hospital, but Keith was trying to let him open up in his own time.

"Cool." Keith said, smiling in spite of himself. "I'll see you in a little while." He and Veronica said their goodbyes and he decided to go upstairs to check on Rosa before he left. He knocked softly on her bedroom door, but he received no response. "Mrs. McClain..?" Keith knocked again, a little bit harder the second time and still, all he heard was silence. He gripped the door handle, white knuckled, taking a deep breath as he cracked the door open. He peeked inside the sliver of an opening he'd made. It was dark and he had never really seen Rosa's room before. He opened the door slightly wider and caught sight of Rosa, fast asleep in bed. Once he was sure he saw her breathing, he backed out, closing the door as softly as he could. He let out the deep breath he had been holding and the pit of guilt in his stomach that had been festering felt like it was going to burst. He didn't have time to make a plan because as soon ass he made it downstairs, Veronica was waiting for him.

"You ready?" she asked, smiling. Keith nodded, grabbing his wallet and phone off of the table.

"No kids?" he asked as they both climbed into Veronica's SUV. Veronica snorted.

"Hell no." she replied. "This is the first time I've been out of the house in weeks for something that didn't involve going to mama's or the restaurant or something for the kids. I need adult time. I left them with Manuel." Keith laughed at that. He was grateful that he was getting to spend time with Veronica but the thought of Rosa and her condition crept into his mind again as Veronica put the car in gear and sped off to the local shopping mall.

"Veronica..?" Keith said, looking at his hands folded in his lap. "Do you think it's time we told Lance the truth..?" Keith looked up from his hands. Veronica's face was impassive. He couldn't tell what she was thinking or feeling about what he had asked.

"I've been thinking about that every day." Veronica admitted finally, after several minutes of stonefaced silence. "And the truth is, I meant what I said on the first night that you were here. Lance has been through a lot. But he's a big boy and he can handle this. I know he can because he's not alone anymore. He has you. I'm sorry that you've been dragged into the mess of our family. Lance was so little when Papi died, he doesn't even really remember him, but when I said Lance was a lot like him in spirit... Papi was depressed for a long time and he couldn't bring himself to find the help that he needed. You've convinced Lance to do what our father did have the inner strength to do. You saved him, Keith. I owe you... We all owe you for that. If you think we should tell him the truth, then I will support that. I never agreed with Mama's plan anyway." Veronica finished her speech and Keith was trying to keep himself from crying in the car with her. Veronica took his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "My brother loves you more than I've ever seen him love anyone."

Keith nodded, wiping away the single tear that rolled down his cheek. But the dam was threatening to burst and he didn't know how long he could hold the flood at bay. All he wanted was for Lance to be okay and now he was about to be responsible for crushing his heart. But these were the choices that Keith had made and he was going to have to live with whatever the consequences were, even if that meant that Lance no longer wanted anything to do with him.

*********************************************************************************************************************************

When Lance had gotten in the car with Marco, he had wagged his eyebrows at Lance knowingly.

"Well?" Marco asked, looking at Keith expectantly as the twins buckled themselves into their seats. Lance looked at him with his eyebrow raised.

"Well, what?" Lance asked, irritation coloring his tone. Marco rolled his eyes at Lance's feigned confusion.

"Luis said Mama caught you with Keith this morning." Marco said as he reversed out of Mama's driveway. "Hush!" he snapped at the twins in the backseat.

"I don't think this is an appropriate topic for discussion with children present." Lance retorted, looking away from his eldest brother as his face reddened. "Besides, mind your own business, cabron." Marco laughed.

"I knew it. I called it the minute that you brought him home." Marco joked.

"Callate, cabron." Lance repeated.

"No te enojes conmigo por decirte la verdad." Marco prodded. Lance ignored him. Eventually Marco stopped pressing the subject and they dropped the twins off at home with Laura.

"Well, the kids are gone." Marco said as they started on the drive to the restaurant. "Can we talk about this now?" Lance shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"What's there to talk about Marco?" Lance asked accusingly. "What are you really worried about here?" Lance looked at his elder brother with his eyes narrowed. What was he trying to say? That he didn't approve of Lance's 'lifestyle choices'?

"I just think that you're rushing into this, that's all." Marco said, honestly. Lance didn't believe him.

"So it's not because you're brother if having sex with another man?" Lance asked, indignantly. He felt his face getting hot in anger.

"No, Lance!" Marco cried, defensively. "I have never cared about that and you know it! I just think it's too soon for you to be throwing yourself into a serious relationship like this so soon after-" He didn't get the rest of his words out.

"So soon after what?" Lance snapped angrily. "After I tried to kill myself? Did you ever consider that maybe Keith is the reason I'm still here? I love him." Marco sighed, his patience was wearing thin and Lance could tell.

"Lance. I have no doubts that your love for him is real and genuine." Marco said calmly. "I'm just saying those are strong feelings to jump head first into. I think you need to take care of yourself first before you can try and take care of someone else."

"You're wrong." Lance said simply. "I don't take care of Keith. We take care of each other." Marco looked at Lance, pleadingly.

"I hope you're right, hermanito." Marco said gently. "For your sake, I hope you're right." Neither man said another word about it or anything else the rest of the way to the restaurant and when they arrived, Lance exited the truck as fast as he could, slamming the door behind him. Marco didn't even try to stop him, something that Lance appreciated. He just wanted to put his headphones in and cook. Something he was good at. What he had with Keith was real and Marco had no right to try and tell him how to live his life. All Lance knew right now was that he was in love with Keith Kogane and that was good enough for him. It would have to be good enough for everyone else.


	19. Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

Keith and Veronica returned home after several hours of Christmas shopping and they chatted contentedly about various topics; music, her childhood with Lance, wherever the conversation took them and Keith was surprised by how much he actually had in common with Lance and hell, even Veronica. Any nerves that he had been feeling when the trip had begun had long since passed. He couldn't remember feeling more content than this in his life as he sat there with his hopefully future sister-in-law, just sipping on coffee and talking.

"You really love him, don't you?" Veronica asked, curiously as if she was surprised that anyone would have fallen so hard for her youngest brother. Keith turned bright pink at the question and avoided her gaze bashfully. The butterflies he felt made him feel like a teenager. He had never once gotten butterflies before Lance. Never.

"I really do." Keith admitted. Veronica beamed at him, her smile like a ray of sunshine. "Lance is... He's Lance. But he's amazing." Veronica nodded in agreement.

"Lance is special." Veronica conceded. "He always has been. Mama will deny it if you ask her, but I swear he's her favorite. He'll always be her Papito." Keith chuckled at that. He loved that he shared such a close relationship with his mother and siblings. "Well, I'm sorry for running out on you, but I can't leave Manuel with the girls too long, he gets stressed out faster than me."

"That's saying something." Keith teased. Veronica laughed in agreement. Keith relieved her of her empty coffee mug and gave her a one armed hug before she made her way to her SUV. Keith gave her one last wave before sitting back down on the swing. He swung his legs over to occupy the other seat on the swing before hugging his knees to his chest and setting the coffee mugs on the deck. He breathed in the warm air. Too warm for winter. It was probably snowing back on campus. He missed the snow a little bit, but he'd gladly miss out on snow forever if it meant he got to stay with Lance. As the thoughts crossed his mind, his phone vibrated in his pocket. After extricating it from the confines of his jeans, he looked at the caller ID. Loverboy Lance. Keith snorted. Lance must have changed it when Keith wasn't paying attention.

"How can I help you, loverboy?" Keith cracked, eliciting a serious of giggles from his boyfriend.

"You saw that huh?"

"Well, I don't know another Lance." Keith laughed. "What's up, babe?"

"I love when you call me that." Lance said, reveling in the pet name. Keith shifted his position, setting his feet on the deck, preparing to head inside the house.

"And yet, I doubt it was the reason for your phone call. You know, while you're supposed to be working?" Keith joked.

"Guilty." Lance admitted halfheartedly. "Actually, I was going to ask. When you pick me up, there's a bag under my bed. Bring it with you, I have a surprise for you tonight." Keith groaned inwardly. He hated surprises and Lance knew that. He was definitely on edge now.

"Sounds scandalous." Keith said, trying to sound sexy, but sure he was failing.

"Oh, you have no idea." Lance replied. "No peeking!" Keith groaned.

"Oh, come on." Keith said as he scooped up the coffee mugs and entered the house. "Not even a hint? You know I hate surprises." Keith thought back to all the times Lance had attempted to surprise him as just a roommate and shuddered at the thought. This was not going to end well and Keith was intensely anxious about what shenanigans Lance had in store for him tonight.

"I know, I know. You'll just have to trust me." Lance mused. "Gottagoloveyoubye!"

"Goddammit, Lance-" Keith started, but the line went dead before he could sufficiently reply. He sighed heavily as he set the mugs in the kitchen sink. After putting in his headphones and putting on his favorite playlist, he set to work cleaning the rest of the kitchen even though Rosa seemed to have already left it spotless, as per usual. Cleaning gave Keith an unusual sense of domestication. Like this made him worthy of being loved. Like he was a human being. He was so busy cleaning he hadn't noticed when Rosa entered the room. He had no idea that Rosa was just watching him work until he turned to start wiping down the table and she was sitting at it.

"Oh!" Keith said, startled. "Rosa, I didn't see you there. You scared the shit out of me." He set the spray bottle down on the table and pulled his earbuds from his ears. "How long have you been there. I'm sorry." Rosa just smiled at him fondly.

"Just a few minutes, I was just watching you. Lance is very lucky to have you." Rosa replied. There was a sadness to her tone that Keith couldn't quite gauge.

"Oh," Keith replied, blushing furiously. He was sure he'd never blushed so much in his life. "That's kind of you. But I think I'm the lucky one." He wasn't lying. He was incredibly lucky to have fallen in love with Lance and to be loved by him.

"He's going to marry you." Rosa predicted. Keith was sure he was going to spontaneously combust from how red he was in this moment.

"I don't know about that." Keith said, looking away from Rosa's motherly gaze.

"Oh, I do. I have sort of a sense for these things." she said assuredly. "Do you not want to marry my son?" Keith was taken aback by the question. They had only just begun a real relationship and while Keith's mind had wandered in that direction on a whim, he hadn't really given it serious thought.

"We'll see how he feels in a few years." Keith laughed. Rosa didn't. She looked more serious than ever and Keith sat down in the chair across from her, trying to absorb the gravity of what she was suggesting. She didn't relent.

"Keith." Rosa said. "My son loves you more than he'll ever love another person. You're meant to be together. I knew it the moment I met you." Keith finally met her eyes and he knew that she was telling the truth. Well... Her truth. And it was such a pretty truth. Keith would've loved nothing more than for that to be the outcome, but the real truth was that he just didn't think that he had it in him. He was too damaged and Lance would get tired of having to pick up his pieces and leave. Shiro was the only one who hadn't left him.

"I love him too." Keith said simply.

"I know that you do." Rosa said, smiling sweetly at him. "My Antonio would have loved you." Keith was surprised at her words. No one in the family really talked about Rosa's late husband. Veronica had mentioned him a couple of times in passing, but other than that, Keith thought it was a subject best left alone. Rosa offered nothing further to the conversation, but rather disappeared through the backdoor to feed the chickens. Keith glanced at his phone and shoved it in his pocket. Time to go get Lance from work. He dashed up the stairs to grab the bag that he had specified before jetting off to go get Lance from work. And all he could think about the whole drive there was marrying Lance. Dammit Rosa. Now it was all he wanted to do.

*************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Lance still had boundless energy when Keith finally arrived to take him home. Except that Keith didn't know that they weren't going home. Not right away anyway. He said his goodbyes to Luis and Marco before meeting Keith at the car. Lance had a bounce in his step that had been missing for quite some time now. Crazy to think that it was Keith that made him find it again.

"Oh! Oh!" Lance shouted hysterically. Keith rolled his eyes at Lance's overdramatic display. "Did you bring the bag?" Keith scowled as he held the bag out to Lance and watched as Lance jumped up and down like an overgrown school girl. "Well, don't give it to me now, Mullet, we have places to be!" Lance jumped into the passenger seat of the car, to Keith's surprise. "Hit the road, Jack!" Keith rolled his eyes for a second time as Lance planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek.

"I don't even know where we're going." Keith deadpanned. Lance's eyes widened in excitement, instilling a feeling of dread in Keith's bones. "No. Whatever it is, no."

"Come on, Keithy!" Lance whined. "Trust me!" Keith shook his head fervently.

"Nope, no way." Keith snapped. "Whatever this is, I don't trust it, nope." Lance pouted in the passenger seat. But slowly, a mischievous look took over Lance's face, but Keith did his best to ignore Lance's machinations. "What."

"Nothing, nothing, just drive." Lance said with a sly smirk.

"Home?" Keith asked hopefully as the car's engine roared to life. Honestly, Lance's face was kind of scaring him at the present moment. Keith had no idea what he was in for. Lance was the man with the plan. Keith was about to bend to his will, Lance would make sure of it. Lance watched Keith intently as Keith backed out of the parking spot and drove away from the bustling restaurant.

Before Keith knew what was happened, Lance had unbuckled Keith's seatbelt and his own.

"Lance, what-" Keith started before Lance covered the lower half of his face with his hand, muffling the rest of his sentence. "Come on, Lance, I'm driving."

"Shhhhhhh." Lance said. "Just let it happen." Lance gave Keith another sneaky grin as his hand wandered towards Keith's inner thighs. Lance felt Keith's body tense up at his touch and he knew that he was getting him going. No big deal. They were just two hot blooded men doing what hot blooded men do. Lance ignored Keith's protests as his hands wandered up towards the button of Keith's jeans.

"Come on Lance." Keith continued to protest as he tried to keep his focus on the road instead of on the fact that Lance was literally pulling his dick out at this very moment. Lance was thoroughly enjoying himself at this point. He loved nothing more than to drive his mulletheaded samurai crazy as hell. That and he had learned that he really loved going down on him, watching him writhe in pleasure. Lance was surprised that Keith was already at full mast.

Lance felt Keith's body twitch as he gave his lover a couple of test strokes before popping the head of his engorged cock into his mouth. Lance grinned inwardly as a small moan escaped Keith's lips.

"Where." Keith said thickly, trying to concentrate on the road. "Where do you want to go?" Lance planned on making it impossible for Keith to say no to him, so he merely responded by taking a couple more inches into his mouth, his tongue swirling around the thickness of Keith's shaft. Another moan escaped from Keith's throat and Lance picked up speed as he bobbed his head, taking as much of Keith's hardened length into his mouth as he could under present circumstances. All he cared about was making Keith feel good. His tongue flicked over the tip of Keith's cock which was already dripping with pre-cum.

"L-Lance." Keith moaned in ecstasy. He liked it when Keith moaned his name like that. He started to rub his own erection through the fabric of his khaki shorts as he felt Keith tighten up. Just as he felt like Keith was on the brink, he pulled his head up from Keith's lap with a loud pop, eliciting an unrestrained moan of pleasure from Keith. Lance smirked as Keith shot him a death glare.

"We're going into town." Lance said with a grin. Keith rolled his eyes, but at the next light, made an unwilling u-turn. Lance loved getting what he wanted, but he loved Keith even more for giving it to him. He was going to reward him with something extra special. And after what he planned, he had to. Keith was going to kill him.

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"No."

"Please?"

"Hell. No."

"I'll finish what I started in the car."

Keith sighed in exasperation as he held out the leather pants that Lance had thrown at him to change into. Lance was looking at him like a wounded puppy, pouting at him with his lip stuck out.

"You're fucking insane." Keith said, finally. "I'm not wearing these." Never in his life would Keith Kogane be caught dead in leather fucking pants. Seriously?

"Why not?" Lance pouted some more, crossing his arms over his chest. Keith shot a look of disdain in Lance's direction.

"What makes you think I'd be caught dead in these?" Keith said haughtily as Lance rolled his eyes at him in a more exaggerated fashion than usual.

"Well they can't be any worse than your obsession with skinny jeans." Lance said, snickering. "Or your outdated hairstyle for that matter." Keith signed in frustration.

"Leave my hair out of this." Keith snapped. "And I'm not OBSESSED with skinny jeans." Lance ignored Keith's protested and continued on the pout train. Keith had been putting up with it for years and he wasn't going to give into it now.

"You hate me." Lance said, sticking his nose in the air. Keith looked at the brown skinned boy in exasperation.

"You're right." Keith said, "I'm glad we finally got that out of the way. I've been dying to get that off my chest." Lance crossed his hands over his heart.

"Why must you hurt me like this." Lance cried, wiping fake tears out of his eyes. "Please. Pleasepleasepleaseplease, pretty please with... Me on top?" Lance eyed Keith suggestively and it made it harder for Keith to say no. He gave another frustrated sigh.

"FINE." Keith finally caved, unbuttoning his pants in the front seat of the car. It was bad enough that Lance had talked him into coming to this stupid nightclub, but now Keith was shedding the last of his dignity by forcing himself into these ridiculous leather pants and a fucking muscle shirt. That exactly matched Lance's. Of course Lance would have them wearing the gayest clothes possible and matching on top of it. The fact that Keith was actually gay wasn't the point, it was that he wasn't into the scene of it.

"Just think of how hot your ass is going to look in them." Lance offered, looking at Keith like he was a piece of candy that he couldn't wait to devour. Which wasn't far from the truth, in all honesty. Keith shook his head in embarrassment as he yanked the skin tight pants up past his muscular thighs. "Besides, I'll get to take them off of you later and that will be much more fun."

"I'm expecting you to make this worth my while." Keith said suggestively, and Lance just gave him a crooked smile. Keith tried not to swoon at that, he could show no weakness right now.

"Oh, I'm going to take very good care of you, Mister Kogane." Lance said, placing a series of kisses along Keith's jawline before ending on his lips.

"You'd better." Keith growled low in his throat. After a couple more seconds of kissing, Keith was disappointed when Lance pulled away.

"Let's go!" Lance cried as he climbed out of the car, bobbing away towards the entrance to the club. Keith appraised the building apprehensively, the neon lights of the sign gave him a headache and set his OCD on fire because two of the letters were out. He followed his lover up to the line at the outside of the building and they waited for their turn to be wanded, patted down and stamped as overage by the pair of beefy looking bouncers that guarded the door. Lance bopped his head absentmindedly to the electronic beat that pulsed its way outside as he waited for Keith to be patted down.

By the time that the bouncer decided that Lance and Keith were cleared to enter, Keith already had a headache and it only amplified when they made their way through the door. Keith sighed wearily, hoping that Lance would tire out fast and want to just head home. Lance was going to be the death of him, but he was going to suck it up and have a good time like his life depended on it. Besides, at the end of the night he was still going to be going home with the sexiest guy in the room. That was definitely something to look forward to.


	20. Dance In the Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer, I’m not very good at writing smut, so don’t judge me lol

Keith and Lance had entered the nightclub at peak time. The energy in the room crackled like electricity and the rhythm seemed to put Lance in a trance. The multicolored strobe lights bouncing off the walls were hypnotic. Keith wasn't surprised that Lance was an excellent dancer. He mused about it as he watched his lover from the bar, sipping his drink. He had stayed with Lance for one song, after which he retreated to his current safe haven nursing his whiskey and Coke. Keith was enjoying the view, Lance's ass looked great in leather pants, he couldn't deny that fact. Still, he was content to observe the scantily clad crowd at a safe distance, dancing wasn't his thing. He didn't have rhythm and the music... Was garish and loud. Just like Lance. Lance looked over at him from across the room and Keith grinned at him. Lance just scowled, not bothering to hide his annoyance that Keith had ditched him for the bar after exactly seven minutes on the dance floor.

Keith let out a small chuckle as Lance shimmied his way over to him, still managing to stay in time with the tropical house song that was blaring from all sides. Lance mimed reeling Keith in, but Keith just scowled at him causing Lance to pout all the more.

"We're supposed to be having fun." Lance whined in Keith's ear, draping himself over his shoulder. Keith shrugged him off and Lance took his turn to scowl back at him.

"I am having fun." Keith said, holding his drink up to Lance as if it were evidence of some great achievement. In his defense, it was his fourth and he was feeling pretty buzzed. But not nearly buzzed enough to dance. Lance shook his head in mock despair.

"That is not fun. That is alcohol poisoning." He said. "That." Lance pointed to the sweaty, writhing mass of people on the dance floor. "That is fun." Keith rolled his eyes. "Come on!" Lance looked at Keith pleadingly, giving him a quick peck on the lips. Keith sighed in annoyance and set his drink down on the bar and Lance took it as a win. Keith couldn't help but be won over watching Lance's demeanor change when he agreed to join him for a dance or two.

By this time, Keith was feeling pretty good about himself as the alcohol set into his system. He watched as Lance performed a series of intricate steps to the song that was playing and couldn't help but wonder if Lance had received any professional training for it.

"For six years." Lance replied, snapping Keith out of his head. Keith hadn't been aware that he'd actually asked the question out loud. Lance was dancing so close to Keith now, their bodies were pressed up against one another in the crowded dance hall and Lance took the opportunity to start grinding on Keith. Normally Keith would have been to embarrassed to let Lance continue, but he was actually having fun now so he got into it and he could tell that Lance was enjoying it. He could see Lance's lips moving under the strobe lights, but he couldn't hear anything that he was saying over the beat of the Rihanna track that was playing. This was Rihanna..?

"Come with me!" Keith finally heard Lance shout into his ear. Lance grabbed Keith by his hand, but Keith pulled Lance back. He wanted to spend a few more minutes with his lover on the dance floor. Before Keith knew it, he had pulled his tank top over his head, letting it fall to the floor and he felt Lance's hands slide down his abdomen. Keith finally let Lance pull him away and they ended up in a dingy bathroom towards that back of the club.

"Lance the door. It doesn't lock." Keith said, snapping out of his trance. He was vaguely aware that his shirt was probably nowhere to be found and now he felt naked and exposed, the euphoric feeling was gone with the strobe lights. The bathroom was dark and it smelled. But suddenly, that didn't matter because Lance's lips were on his and all of his fears were melting away with each touch of Lance's lips to his. "Lance the door doesn't lock." Keith said again. He saw a devilish look pass over Lance's face.

"The stall does." Lance replied, taking his hand and pulling him into a stall. The stall was only slightly better than the rest of the bathroom but Keith couldn't focus on that, he was too preoccupied with Lance's hands down his pants as his lips moved from Keith's mouth to his jawline. It was Keith's turn to take control this time. Keith shoved Lance against the wall of the bathroom stall, his hands sliding up Lance's shirt, pinching at his nipples as he kissed down the dark skinned man's neck. He made quick work of the button and zipper on Lance's pants before pulling them down enough that he could see Lance's erection straining the cotton of his bright red boxer briefs. Keith looked up at the taller man, an intense burning desire is what Keith saw in his eyes and it lit a fire in him that drove him to keep going.

Keith got on his knees in front of Lance and hooked his finger around Lance's boxer briefs, pulling them down slowly, reveling in the reveal of his boyfriend's erection. Keith grinned before looking up at Lance. Lance looked like he was in heaven as Keith used the tip of his tongue to trace a path up Lance's cock from the base to the tip. Keith held Lance's hips in place so that he wouldn't buck them forward as Keith took the head of Lance's dick into his mouth. Lance's cock was long, but slightly skinnier than his own, still though. He was going to enjoy this. He teased Lance with his tongue, but took care to massage his balls with his free hand as the other wrapped around his shaft. His tongue swirled around the head as Keith took more of Lance into his mouth. Lance bucked his hips causing Keith to gag slightly as more of Lance's cock penetrated his throat.

"K-K-Keith. Oh my god." Lance hissed in pure bliss. Keith smirked up at him.

"Who's God now?" Keith said as he proceeded to take Lance's whole length into his mouth. Keith began to bob his head on his boyfriend's boner and Lance thrusted into Keith's mouth in time with Keith's movements. Keith ran his hands up Lance's thighs and felt him stiffen.

"K-Keith, I'm gonna-" Lance didn't even get his words out before he spilled into Keith's mouth. Keith swallowed before standing and kissing Lance deeply.

"I think we should take this party home." Keith whispered in Lance's ear. Lance nodded weakly as he pulled up his pants, readjusting his still hard cock into a more comfortable position. Keith took Lance's hand and they exited the bathroom. They hadn't heard people enter behind them so they burst into giggling fits when they heard two men whistling behind them as they left.

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************

"I can't wait until we get home and we can just do this all over the house." Lance whispered to Keith, playing with Keith's hair as he laid up on Lance's chest, resting his head over Lance's heart, reveling in their post-coital bliss. Keith kissed a spot on Lance's chest in agreement. Lance wrapped his arm around Keith, pulling him close.

"We can turn your room into a guest room." Keith said, now thinking about the future of their relationship past the confines of Lance's hometown.

"Hey!" Lance said, clearly offended by Keith's suggestion. "Why do I have to give up my room?!" Keith looked up at him, eyebrow raised.

"Because. My room and bed are both bigger and I have more closet space." Keith retorted, snickering at Lance's outburst. Lance relaxed at that statement.

"Oh..." Lance said, Keith could see a light blush on his cheeks. "Right. Duh. I knew that. Why did you get the bigger closet anyway? I have more clothes than you." Keith laughed.

"I just wanted to annoy you." Keith admitted. Lance gasped in mock outrage.

"So that big speech you gave about needing the bigger room because you felt like the walls were closing in and shit..." Lance started. "That was all just so you could have the big room and lord it over me when you convinced me to fall in love with you? Why must you torture me like this?" Lance turned away, feigning heartbreak. He earned a laugh from Keith at that.

"Yeah, yeah. It was all a part of my evil. Master. Plan." Keith punctuated each word with a kiss to Lance's lips. "Did it work?" Lance grinned.

"Definitely." Lance answered sweetly, kissing Keith, hard and deep. "Round two?" he asked, eyebrow raised expectantly when they broke apart. Keith answered Lance with a passionate kiss. "I'll take that as a yes." Lance pulled out the box of condoms, tearing one out of it's package and handing it to Keith as he grabbed the half-empty bottle of lube. Keith unrolled the condom on Lance's hardened length, taking care to tease Lance as much as possible as he did so.

"Fuck." Lance cried out, dragging the word out several syllables longer. Lance rolled on top of Keith, pulling his hips up so that Keith was resting on his knees, holding himself up his hands as Lance teased his hole with a finger. Keith whimpered slightly at the pleasurable intrusion, but he yearned for Lance to be inside him.

"Don't take your time this time." Keith ordered. "I need you." Lance obeyed Keith's command and slid his cock into Keith in one smooth motion, testing Keith's boundaries with two or three long strokes before pounding into him relentlessly.

"F-Fuck." Keith stammered, unable to coherently string two words together. For all Lance's bravado, Keith was surprised that Lance was this good in bed. Lance was hitting all of the sweet spots the Keith didn't even know that he had. He felt like he was going to burst at any second so he pushed Lance out of him so that he wouldn't make a mess all over the sheets. He rolled to his back and lifted his legs, inviting Lance inside once again. Lance didn't hesitate, he resumed pounding into Keith. Every guttural grunt that escaped from Lance's throat just drove Keith closer to the edge until finally he released in spurts over his stomach. Keith moaned as Lance continued to thrust into him, before pulling out to finish. Keith watched hungrily as Lance pleasured himself to his climax, mixing his cum with Keith's own.

"Goddamn." Lance huffed, breathlessly. "You are fucking amazing." He stood, grabbing a clean rag for Keith to clean himself up with.

"I love you." Keith whispered softly, looking up at Lance's tall, lanky form. Lance smiled down at him.

"I love you too, Mullet." Lance replied, leaning down to kiss him. Lance pulled a pair of briefs on and exited the room for what Keith assumed was the bathroom so Keith took the opportunity to clean himself up and he rolled over, leaving room for Lance when he came back. Lance returned a couple of minutes later and crawled into bed with Keith, pulling the smaller man into his arms. Keith had never felt safer in his life than he did in Lance's arms.

"Hey, Keith?" Lance whispered. Keith felt Lance's breath on the back of his neck.

"Yeah?" Keith replied, not moving.

"Are you the sun? Cause you're the center of my universe." Lance replied cheerily. Keith could practically feel Lance's grin emanating from him and he rolled over to give his lover a peck on the cheek.

"Are you the moon?" Keith asked. "Because even in the dark you still seem to shine." Keith snickered as Lance seem to be shocked that he had returned fire with a cheesy pick up line of his own. Keith snuggled in closer to his love, safe and warm, the two boys drifted off into a blissful slumber. No fears. No worries. Just love.


	21. Remember the Time

Keith was surprised when he woke up the next morning. Not just because he had actually managed to sleep in for once, but also because Lance had apparently woken up early. He woke up naked and alone. His heart fluttered a little at the disappointment, but he rolled out of bed and scrounged up a pair of boxer briefs, pulling them on as Lance entered the room carrying a tray laden with breakfast foods.

"Aw, man!" Lance whined, "You're awake already? I was trying to be cute and shit and bring you breakfast in bed." Keith chuckled a little bit at Lance's cheesiness, but he had to admit, Lance bringing him breakfast in bed was definitely on the list of cute and shit.

"I mean, I can get back in bed and pretend to be asleep and we can start this whole exchange over if you want." Keith offered, only half joking. Lance looked like he was seriously considering it for a moment, but he shook his head.

"Nope, too late. You've already ruined the moment." he said, he took note of Keith sulking and backtracked just a little. "But." He dragged the word out as he does. "But I'd be willing to offer something else in exchange." Keith looked at Lance expectantly.

"Well?" Keith said, his arms folded across his chest. Lance's response was setting the tray down on his bed and covering the few feet between them, sweeping Keith up in his embrace and kissing him. Keith returned the kiss with fervor before pulling away.

"Ya know." Keith said snarkily. "That would've been nice to wake up to." Lance responded by kissing him again. He was really getting used to that. Kissing Lance all the time.

"It's Christmas Eve." Lance said, looking at Keith. "You ready for the craziness tomorrow?" Keith nodded. At this point he could handle anything the McClain's threw at him. Hell, he already felt like Rosa was putting him through the ringer.

"Yeah. Honestly, this is probably the best Christmas I've had in a while." Keith said, enjoying the fact that Lance lit up at his words. Lance gave him another peck on the cheek before heading back towards the door.

"Eat your breakfast before it gets cold, I'll see you in a bit, yeah?" Lance said. Keith nodded, smiling at Lance like a love struck moron.

"Hey, Lance." Keith called as Lance turned back to the door.

"What's up, babe?" Lance asked, doubling back to make sure that Keith was okay.

"Of all the curves on your body, your smile is my favorite." Keith grinned up at Lance, who grasped at his heart, appalled.

"So the hunter has become the hunted." Lance cried, feigning weakness and leaning on the door for support. "Tooshie, my good man." Keith chuckled.

"It's pronounced touche, Lance." Keith pointed out. Lance snapped back to normal that instant.

"Oh." Lance said awkwardly. And then he left the room. Keith shook his head. He couldn't believed how much he loved this dork. He tucked into to his breakfast, swooning over the fact that Lance had done something so thoughtful and sweet. He thought back to when he first met Lance and how different he was. They were both different people now.

After scarfing down his breakfast, Keith resigned himself to carrying the tray downstairs, so he pulled on a pair of shorts and one of Lance's shirts and scooped up the tray and empty dishes and headed to the kitchen.

"Good morning, Keith." Rosa said smiling at Keith as he entered the kitchen, setting the dishes in the sink and taking a seat at the table.

"Good morning, Rosa." Keith replied, stifling a yawn and running his fingers through his messy hair. Lance trotted into the room.

"It's gonna take more than that to fix that mop, Mullet." Lance said, ruffling Keith's hair as he walked by.

"Damn it, Lance." Keith snapped, swatting his hand away. Rosa shook her head, laughing at the pair of them. Lance made a mocking kissy face at him and Keith rolled his eyes in response. Veronica then bustled into the kitchen, arms laden with grocery bags.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, Mama." she said out of breath. "The store was a nightmare, why did I wait until the day before Christmas?" Veronica set the bags on the table and started to unpack them with Rosa's help.

"Because you're stupid." Lance offered, shrugging his shoulders. Veronica punched Lance in the arm.

"Ass." she said, returning to her task. Rosa clucked her tongue at them as she separated the things that were going to go in the fridge. "When do you want to start cooking, Mama?" Rosa didn't seem to hear her, or at least she didn't acknowledge that her daughter had spoken. She seemed distracted, wrapped up in her own mind. Keith was sure it had everything to do with the secret that was bearing down on them all. Lance didn't seem to notice that anything was wrong at all as he snatched an apple from one of the bags and took a loud bite out of it. The sound snapped Rosa back into reality.

"Mama?" Veronica asked, looking at her with worry in her eyes. Rosa looked at her, eyebrows kinked up the way that Lance's did.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you." Rosa said, she sounded immensely tired all of a sudden, but Keith said nothing, just watching. Observing.

"When do you want to start cooking?" Veronica repeated, warily. Lance took another loud chomp out of the apple. "Lance, will you take that somewhere else?" Veronica snapped at him. Keith was surprised at Veronica's outburst, but Lance looked unbothered.

"Fine. Sheesh." Lance said, leaving the room and heading out the front door. Keith was tempted to join him, but he was concerned for Rosa. She seemed like she hadn't seen any of the exchange between Lance and Veronica at all. Normally she would have said something smart assy to say.

"Mama. Cooking?" Veronica asked again, Keith could tell her patience, even with her mother was wearing thin.

"Start without me, mija." Rosa replied, she sounded exhausted. "I need to lie down for a while." Veronica sighed, but she nodded nevertheless and watched as Rosa left the room. She leaned onto the table, hiding her face in her hands.

"Veronica?" Keith asked. "Are you okay?" He moved close to her, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. She leaned into it before momentarily breaking down in tears.

"This is too much." she cried. "It's too much. Christmas is tomorrow and then what? She's just going to keep lying to Lance? It's already too late to tell him, he's going to be furious and hurt no matter what happens now." Keith didn't know what to say.

"Everything is going to be-" Keith started with the customary response that Shiro had always given him. It pissed him off to no end, but he usually ended up being right and everything was okay. One way or another.

"Do not say everything is going to be okay." Veronica snapped. "I cannot take that right now either." Keith frowned sadly. He wasn't sure what to do to fix this. Except he was. He had to tell Lance. He had to tell him right now.

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"There ya go." Lance said softly to the chickens as he laid feed out for them, eyebrows kinked in frustration. Everyone was so on edge lately, even Mama. Keith seemed to be the only one who was on his wavelength lately. He thought back to making Keith breakfast this morning and realized that he needed to do more than just that to show Keith how much he appreciated him. He'd have to do more around the apartment. Surprise him, yeah, he hated surprises, but he loved Lance, right?

"Lance!" Keith called. He turned and smiled at him. Then he saw Keith's face. He looked frantic and his voice had an urgency to it that Lance had never really heard before. Lance met him halfway, trying not to freak out. Was everything okay? Was Keith okay?

"Are you okay?" Lance asked, his tone matching Keith's, looking him over to make sure that Keith was physically okay. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Keith shook his head fervently before looking nervously around the backyard. Man, Mullet was acting super weird.

"Lance, we need to talk." Keith said. Lance's heart sank. Was Keith breaking up with him already? Did he do something wrong?

"Please, please don't leave me." Lance blurted out frantically before he could stop himself. "Whatever I did, I'm sorry, just don't leave me, please." A look of confusion crossed Keith's face.

"What?" Keith asked, his eyebrow raised, "That's definitely not it." Lance breathed a sigh of relief at that.

"God, Mullet, you can't scare a guy like that." Lance said, holding his heart. "You could've given me a heart attack."

"Your mom is sick." 

Lance felt the world stop spinning around him. His heart sank in his chest at what Lance had known was the truth all along. He hadn't been crazy or delusional. He had been right. Keith's words just made it real. Maybe he had been... Avoiding it? Ignoring the signs? Pretending that his mom really was just tired when she went to take naps at noon and didn't come down until the next morning sometimes. The way she was giving him way more responsibility at work than anyone ever would have thought to give Lance of all people. People didn't expect Lance to be responsible, so he just wasn't. He never had to be.

"I know." Lance blurted and Keith's face screwed up, turning red.

"Y-you... You know?" Keith asked, his voice terrified as if Lance was going to burst like a dam at any moment. And in truth, he probably would at some point, once it really set in, but for now, Lance was content just being in shock.

"I mean, I didn't know for sure." Lance said, he could hear his own voice turning cold as ice and suddenly, Keith was the last person he wanted to be around as the realization started coming together in his brain. "Wait... How do you know?" Lance could feel his face getting hot, but he fought hard against the tears that were coming. He felt his heart break in his chest. How long had Keith known and not told him? How long had his family kept this monster of a secret and expected Lance not to find out about it? How long had everyone important in his life lied to him over and over again, thinking that he wasn't capable of handling the truth? Lance was tired of being handled with kid gloves and tired of being treated like he wasn't capable of handling the hard stuff.

"L-Lance, I-" Keith stammered, but Lance cut him off.

"How long have you known, Keith?" Lance asked, his voice razor sharp.

"Since the first night." Keith whispered so softly that Lance barely heard him. He thought back to when he found out that Keith had lied to him about his family. Now he was lying to him about his own family. HIS family. Not Keith's. HIS.

"You've known... For weeks and you said nothing?" Lance hissed, trying to keep his anger under control, but he was like a volcano and he was going to blow any second. "WEEKS KEITH. FUCKING WEEKS." Lance barely noticed the tears that had begun to stream down Keith's face, but right now he didn't care. Lance had half a mind to storm back inside and let his family have it too, but he didn't have to. Veronica had heard him yelling and she and Rosa joined him and Keith.

"What's going on?" Veronica asked, concerned. "Is everything okay?" Lance shot daggers at her from his eyes and she looked taken aback.

"I don't know, Veronica." Lance spat, "You tell me. Is everything okay? Mama?" Veronica looked confused for a moment before she caught on to what was happening, but Rosa. Rosa knew immediately what was going on.

"Papito-" she tried explaining herself, but Lance had no interest in hearing her out.

"Don't 'Papito' me, Mama." Lance snapped. "You've all been keeping secrets from me. How sick are you Mama? Keith and I were just getting to that part, weren't we, Keith?" Lance turned his glare on Keith who seemed to shrink at Lance's words.

"I'm sorry." Rosa said softly.

"Oh, you're sorry?" Lance howled with mirthless laughter at his mother's words. "A lot of good that does me now, doesn't it? How sick are you?"

"Lance, that's enough." Veronica snapped. "We can discuss this when everyone is calm. Inside." Lance folded his arms defiantly across his chest.

"Oh, you think you're calling the shots now?" Lance asked venomously. "No. You all lied to me. For weeks. We do this now." Keith seemed to regain some of his confidence and he reached out for Lance, touching his shoulder.

"Lance, I think Veronica's right." he said softly, but Lance recoiled at his touch.

"Stay out of it, Keith." Lance snapped. "I know that's probably hard for you because you're so wrapped up in it, but in case you forgot, this is my family not yours. You don't have a say here." Rosa reared back and slapped her son. But Keith was already retreating to the house. A pang of regret punctuated Lance's anger, but not enough for him to be sorry. Not yet.

"Enough!" Rosa cried, wiping the angry tears from her eyes. "I did not raise you to behave this way." Lance rubbed the cheek that his mother had slapped. It smarted still. She had never hit him and meant it before. "I will not discuss this with you while you're acting like an animal." Rosa turned on her heels and headed back into the house. Lance looked at Veronica, but Veronica rolled her eyes at him.

"I hope you're fucking happy, Lance." Veronica said contemptuously before following their mother. The tears came hard and fast down Lance's face and he screamed into the mid-morning air. He just didn't know what else to do.


	22. We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Keith couldn't stop the tears as they came flooding out, hot and fast. They returned as quickly as he could wipe them away. But he had to go. He yanked his suitcase out of Lance's closet and opened it, scooping up anything that looked like it belonged to him and dumping it in with little regard for how it looked. He felt his phone buzz in his waistband and pulled it out. Shiro. He debated answering, but he couldn't. Not in this state. He watched the screen fade back to black but saw it light up again. Allura this time. He continued to ignore it as he scooped up the last of his clothes off of Lance's bedroom floor. Then his phone started to buzz again.

"What?" Keith snapped into it.

"Keith? Are you okay?" Shiro asked calmly, trying to gauge where Keith was at. Keith didn't answer right away. "Keith?"

"No, no I'm not." Keith said, fighting back more stupid tears. Why was he even crying? He didn't cry, Lance cried. He was stronger than that. "I want to come home, Shiro." Shiro sighed.

"What happened?" Shiro asked patiently.

"Nothing." Keith lied, closing his eyes and running his fingers through his hair with his free hand. "Nothing, I just want to go home." As Keith finished his sentence, Lance entered the room, stopping in his tracks when he saw Keith on the phone.

"I'll talk to Adam and see what we can do to get you home, okay?" Shiro offered and Keith did his best to ignore Lance's presence.

"That sounds good, thanks Shiro." Keith replied. Lance stood in the doorway awkwardly, watching him zip up his suitcase. Keith hung up the phone and tossed it onto the bed before yanking down his workout shorts and changing into the jeans he left out.

"Going somewhere?" Lance asked coolly. Keith ignored him, yanking his suitcase off the bed and walking towards Lance's bedroom door, but he didn't move.

"Move, Lance." Keith said softly. Lance didn't budge. "Lance, stop messing around. Move." Lance continued to ignore Keith, but stood there, with a pained expression on his face.

"No." Lance said. Keith turned red. Seriously?

"Lance, this isn't funny-" Keith snapped, but he was cut off mid-sentence by an angry Lance.

"It's not funny? You're damn right it's not funny." Lance said. "You hurt me. You kept this huge secret from me and I was coming up here to tell you that I forgive you because I understand why you didn't tell me... But you're here and you're going to run away... And that hurts worse. I said things, I admit that and I'm sorry that I said them and I'm sorry that I hurt you, but you hurt me too. You hurt me. And you're just going to run away because it got hard. Guess what? Life is hard. You don't get to run away just because it's hard. You don't get to run away because you made a bad call and you don't know how to deal with it. You just do it. Because you love me. I know you. I know you do. But this didn't break us. We can figure this out."

Keith broke down crying, dropping to his knees. He was so scared that Lance was going to leave him that he hadn't even stopped to consider how badly he had hurt Lance by waiting so long to tell him the truth and he was ashamed. Lance got on his knees cradling Keith's head in his hands as Keith buried his face in Lance's shirt, grabbing a fistful of it.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Keith cried, sobbing into Lance's shirt. Lance said nothing, Keith knew it was going to take time for Lance to forgive him, but at least he knew that Lance wasn't going to leave him. "I'm sorry." he whispered again into Lance's chest.

"I know you are." Lance whispered back, kissing the top of Keith's head. "I know you are. But this... This isn't okay, Keith. You have to know that, right?"

Keith nodded. "I know. I'm sorry." Keith looked up into Lance's eyes. They weren't distant or cold like he was expecting. They were warm. And loving and he found comfort in that. He buried his face in Lance's chest again and Lance just held him. Keith wrapped his arms around Lance's waist and Lance reciprocated by kissing his forehead. "Please... Please forgive me. Don't leave me alone." Lane stiffened and extricated himself from Keith's grasp. He appraised Keith.

"I'm not going to leave you alone." Lance said firmly. "But I'm still upset about this. And I don't know when I'm not going to be upset anymore." Keith processed Lance's words, nodding. "Let's get off the floor, huh?" Keith nodded and Keith got up and sat on the edge of Lance's bed. Lance stood up, leaning against his dresser with his arms folded, looking down at Keith.

"What?" Keith said. He didn't know what else he could say, but he could tell that Lance was still hurting. He couldn't imagine the pain that Lance was in.

"You're a mess, you know that?" Lance said, smirking at Keith. Keith avoided eye contact, folding his hands in his lap.

"Yeah. I guess I am." Keith whispered. "Have you talked to your mom?" Keith looked up at Lance earnestly and a dark look came over Lance's face. Keith watched as Lance tightened up.

"Uh, no. I haven't. She's been locked in her room for a while. I don't think she wants to see me right now." Lane said, a tinge of regret in his voice. Keith wasn't sure how to help him or even if he should. Lance had been right earlier after all, this wasn't Keith's family, it was his. He should have known better than to cross the boundaries, but he couldn't take it back now. "I don't think... I don't really want to talk about it." Keith looked away. Of course Lance didn't want to talk to him about it.

"Come on." Lance said, holding his hand out to Keith. "Let's go downstairs." Keith looked at him apprehensively. "Come on, babe." Hearing the pet name gave Keith what he needed to take Lance's hand, but Keith hesitated. "What's wrong..?"

"I think... I just want to lie down for a while." Keith said, withdrawing back into himself. Lance looked disheartened at Keith's statement, but followed Keith back to the bed. "You don't have to stay with me."

"I... I want to." Lance hesitated like he wasn't sure if he wanted to, but he seemed to harden his resolve. "I want to." 

Keith looked up at Lance from the bed and watched intently as Lance pulled his shirt off and climbed into it, he scooted over to make room for him, but Lance pulled Keith close to him, kissing his shoulder.

"I love you." Lance said and Keith's heart fluttered, Keith rolled over to look at Lance and his own violet eyes met Lance's turquoise ones.

"I love you." Keith replied softly. Lance leaned into him, kissing him softly. Keith kissed him back, gently. Lance slid his hands up Keith's sides under his shirt. Keith removed it and snuggled into Lance. Lance held him and that's all he needed. Lance to hold him.

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************

"Tio Lance, Tio Keith!" was the wake up call that Keith and Lance woke up to on Christmas morning. Four kids barreling into the room, jumping onto the pair of them. They awoke, startled. Lance was groggy, but Keith was wide awake already.

"Hey guys!" Keith smile lazily, "Good morning." Isabella and Liam snuggled up to Keith.

"Ew, Tio Lance drools." Luke giggled, pointing at Lance's disheveled head.

"It's Christmas!" Isabella chimed brightly as Veronica rounded the corner.

"Kids, what did we say about bothering Tio Lance and Tio Keith? Huh?" Veronica said, clucking her tongue in a very Rosa-like fashion.

"But Mama, it's Christmas." Isabella whined. Luke and Liam grabbed Lance's hands and pulled him up. Keith laughed as Lance groaned in protest.

"Knock it off, twerps." Lance moaned, flinging himself back down into his pillows. "Let me sleep. Sleep is important." Keith kissed Lance's cheek.

"Christmas. Christmas is also important, Lanceylance." Keith said. Lance groaned again putting his hand on Keith's face. Keith moved it, laughing.

"You know what that means?" Lance said, his voice muffled by the blankets that he had flung over his face. The kids all jumped with excitement.

"What?" The kids all said collectively. Lance launched himself out of bed.

"PRESENTS!" Lance shouted at the top of his lungs. The kids all buzzed with excitement and ran out the door, Veronica sighed.

"Merry Christmas." Veronica said softly, cautiously looking at Lance and then at Keith. Lance rolled over, ignoring his sister.

"Merry Christmas." Keith said, giving Veronica a small smile. Veronica disappeared from the doorway after returning the smile, but there was a sad edge to it that Keith noticed and it hurt his heart. Keith rubbed Lance's shoulder. "Are you gonna be okay?" Lance rolled over to face Keith and he smiled softly, kissing his lips gently.

"Yeah." Lance replied softly. "I'm gonna be fine." Keith kissed Lance again, his lips sending an electric charge through his body. "We should get downstairs. Guess what?" Keith looked at Lance, puzzled.

"What?" Keith asked, getting out of bed and pulling on one of Lance's shirts.

"Well, first," Lance got out of bed, wrapping his arms around Keith's waist. "It's rude for you to look better in my clothes than me." Lance kissed Keith's neck and his hands traveled down to the bulge in Keith's shorts. Keith turned around to kiss his lover.

"And the second thing?" Keith asked, kissed Lance's lips and up his jawline to his neck, nipping at his ear. Lance leaned down into Keith's neck. Keith grew hot feeling Lance's breath on his neck.

"Presents." Lance said in his ear. He released his grasp on Keith and reached for a shirt to put on. Keith groaned in frustration.

"I have a present for you." Keith offered suggestively, smacking Lance's ass.

"Excuse me, Sir?!" Lance said, scandalized. "I am a gentleman! And there are children downstairs waiting for their uncles!" Keith's heart skipped at the word. Lance called Keith one of their uncles. "Come on, jerk, let's go open presents." Keith raised his eyebrows trying to seduce Lance back to bed. "REAL presents." Lance specified. 

Keith groaned. "Fine. Fine, we will go entertain the small children." Keith resigned. "We will go entertain the small children and I will die of sexual frustration." Lance laughed.

"Come on you horny bastard." Lance cracked, "Let's go." Keith followed Lance out of the room and down to the living room where the rest of the family was waiting for them.

"Merry Christmas, hermano." Luis said, giving Lance a one armed hug. "Keith." Keith nodded in Luis's direction and the rest of the family looked supremely uncomfortable. Lance was no different. They were treating Lance like a ticking time bomb. And Keith didn't know what to think of how they were treating him. Marco avoided both of them all together, focusing on the twins. Laura smiled warmly at Keith, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. Rosa ignored both Lance and Keith all together cradling Sofia as she played with a new toy. Veronica was in the kitchen making preparations for the family dinner.

Keith mostly just sat in the corner as Lance and his family passed presents around, but the tension in the air was so thick that Keith could have cut it with a knife. Lance looked restrained and uncomfortable, he hadn't seen Rosa and Lance interact once and the rest of them were keeping him at arms length. Keith didn't want to stay anymore. He was uncomfortable and he was making the rest of them uncomfortable because he was the bad guy that finally broke down and told Lance the truth. Keith got up to leave the room and join Veronica in the kitchen. No one seemed to notice him leave and that was probably a good thing at this point. Keith felt lost. And embarrassed. Ashamed. So many things. He couldn't walk into the kitchen and face Veronica and he couldn't stay in the living room either. Keith backed into the wall of the hallway, looking up at the ceiling. It was Christmas. Christmas of all days. And he was making it about himself. Shaking off the ridiculous feelings that he was feeling, he entered the kitchen. Veronica looked up and smiled at him, brightly.

"Keith!" she said cheerfully. "What's up?" She continued what she was doing, slicing onions in the perfect way that Lance did it. Keith leaned against the counter.

"Do you need help with anything?" Keith offered. Veronica looked up from her onions, appraising Keith, but she shook her head.

"From what I've seen, your cooking skills could use some work." she teased with a chuckle. Keith was grateful that she, at least, was treating him like a person and not a villain. "But I do appreciate the company." Keith nodded.

"I can do company." Keith agreed. Veronica nodded. Keith felt obliged to acknowledge the elephant in the room, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he heard someone call for him.

"Keith!" Luis called, "Where'd you go?" Luis wandered into the kitchen. "There you are. You didn't open your presents!" Keith was taken aback. Presents? He had presents?

"Yeah, you have presents." Luis said laughing. "You didn't think you were going to stay here for weeks and not get presents, did you?" Keith shrugged in disbelief.

"I... I wasn't sure honestly." Keith admitted. Luis laughed with a surprising amount of warmth.

"C'mon." Luis said. Keith looked at Veronica as if he was asking for permission to leave.

"Well, go on." Veronica urged. He bowed his head in agreement and followed Luis back into the living room. The energy was much of the same, but this time Rosa and Marco both smiled at him as he entered. Rosa handed him a slender box with a sparkly silver ribbon. Keith took it gingerly from her and turned it over in his hands a couple of times.

"Well, open it." Lance said, jokingly. "It's not going to bite you." Keith looked at Lance and Lance smiled in return, but Keith couldn't help but notice that the smile was more of a grimace and it didn't reach his eyes.

"Oh! Here's the rest of them." Marco said, handing Keith two more boxes, one larger, wrapped in purple and silver and the other wrapped in red and gold. "The purple one is from Laura and me and the red one is from Veronica." Keith felt tears welling up in his eyes from the unexpected gifts. He had never really gotten gifts at Christmas before and it was overwhelming.

"Keith, are you okay, mijo?" Rosa asked, reaching for his hand. Keith took Rosa's hand and she gave it a comforting squeeze. Keith wiped his eyes and nodded.

"I'm great." Keith said and he meant it.

"So open your presents." Lance said impatiently. "The anticipation is killing me!" Keith agreed, unwrapping the first gift that Rosa handed him.

"It's a ceremonial knife from Korea." Rosa said, smiling. "Lance told us of your affinity for knives. Also that you're Korean. Do you like it?" she looked at Keith hopefully.

"I love it." Keith admitted, turning it over in his hands and pulling it out of the sheath. "It's... beautiful." Keith returned the knife to its resting place and prepared to open his second present when Lance stood abruptly.

"Papito?" Rosa asked. It was the first word that Keith had heard Rosa speak to Lance the whole morning.

"Don't. Don't do that. I can't do this." Lance said, finally snapping. "I can't sit here and pretend all of this is okay when it's so clearly not." Lance stormed out of the room and upstairs.

"Lance!" Marco called after him.

"Let him go." Rosa said sadly. Luis avoided the eyes of everyone in the room. Marco looked furious. Veronica entered the room carrying a tray laden with enchiladas.

"What's going on?" she asked, a confused look shadowing her face. Keith watched Rosa blink back tears.

"Nothing, Mamita." Rosa said. "Everything is fi-" Marco cut her off before she could get the sentence out.

"Don't lie to her Mama." Marco snapped, "You heard Lance. This is not okay. None of this okay. We can thank Keith for that."

"Marco." Laura warned, but the damage was done. The words were like a punch in the gut to Keith. "Keith is not to blame for this and you know it."

"What are you talking about?" Marco asked, incredulously. "Everything would have been fine if Keith had never showed up here." Veronica shifted uncomfortably with the pan in her arms.

"Marco, that's enough." Laura snapped. Keith was surprised that Laura was leaping to his defense considering how little the two had interacted during the time that he had spent at the McClain's, but he was grateful nonetheless. "This is not Keith's fault. Right now, I feel like he's the only one with a conscience."

"Enough." Rosa said firmly. "It's Christmas, I will not have my family fighting like this on Christ-" Rosa clutched at her chest before collapsing. Everything after that happened in a flash. The pan Veronica was holding dropped to the floor, shattering and spilling enchiladas all over the floor. Marco scooped his mother into his arms and Luis had his phone out dialing 911. Keith sprinted up the stairs to find Lance and found him curled up in a ball at the foot of his bed.

"Lance, come on. We have to go." Keith said urgently. "Your mom, there's something wrong with your mom." Lance jumped out of bed, flying out of the room past Keith, not even acknowledging his presence. Keith followed Lance down the stairs. The only thing that matter now was Rosa.


	23. The Last Day of Our Acquaintance

The next twelve hours were a blur for Lance. The trip to the hospital, the doctor's words as they worked to save Mama's life, the arguments between his siblings. He had needed to be sedated by the time they actually made it to the hospital. He had been hysterical. This whole thing was his fault and he knew it. Veronica sat by his bedside as he came out of the sedation. She was holding Sofia in her lap, he could see from the slits of his eyes. He didn't want her to know that he was awake, not yet. She looked tired. Her hair was in a disheveled bun and she looked much older than twenty-seven. She looked tired. Her eyes were puffy and red. He could only assume that she hadn't stopped crying since that morning. He couldn't move without alerting her, but he wondered if Keith was there too. He had so much to apologize for. He knew none of this had really been Keith's fault, but it was so easy for him to shoot the messenger. All he wanted to do was kiss him and tell him that everything was going to be okay. Even though nothing was really okay.

Eventually he gave in, he couldn't pretend to be asleep forever. Here went nothing.

"Hey." Lance said, still groggy from the sedation. Veronica looked up, suddenly more awake. She reached for his hand and held it so tightly he thought she was going to cut off the blood supply. He made a noise of discomfort involuntarily. "Hurts." 

"I'm sorry." Veronica said softly, withdrawing her hand. "Lance, I'm so sorry for everything. Veronica looked like she was on the brink of tears again and Lance couldn't take it.

"Please don't cry." He said softly, sitting up, but still staring at his hands. "This isn't your fault, Ronnie." Hearing Lance's words caused her to break down in tears again. Sofia hugged her mother's neck tightly as if begging her not to cry anymore. "Veronica." His sister wiped her eyes and looked at him squarely in the face. "None of this is your fault. It's mine, I shouldn't have... Well, I shouldn't have done a lot of things."

Veronica shook her head. "Lance, we just... We just wanted to protect you." The rest of her words seemed to fail her.

"I don't need protecting Veronica." Lance said firmly. "I needed the truth when everyone else knew it. It wasn't fair that I had to find out from Keith. But I'm sorry for the way that I handled everything after that. I guess I still have a lot of growing up to do." Veronica took Lance's hand again.

"We all do, it seems." Veronica said. She seemed distant. Far away.

"Vee?" Lance said softly. "Where's Keith?" He asked hopefully. Maybe he was just... He didn't know. In the cafeteria or something. Veronica looks changed dramatically from sad to panic. She shifted Sofia uncomfortably in her lap, hesitant to give Lance an answer. "Veronica?"

"Hermanito..." Veronica said softly, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. Lance pulled his hand away, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Veronica, where's Keith?" Lance asked again, more firmly. He watched as she looked at the door and then at him and then down at Sofia. "Tell me."

"Lance, I'm sorry." Veronica said her voice barely qualifying as even a whisper. "He's gone. He left." Lance felt his heart sink in his chest. He felt like it was going to explode.

"What do you mean he left..?" Lance asked thickly. The words could barely come out, he felt like his throat was constricted, like he couldn't breathe. "Where is he?"

Veronica looked pleadingly into Lance's eyes.

"After you took off upstairs, Marco turned everything around on Keith and then Mama..." Veronica looked away. "Keith was here at first, but once they stabilized Mama, you were already sedated. He went back to the house. He said he was getting a few things for you, but when Luis went home... He was gone." Gone? Keith was gone? Keith had left him? All alone? Lance couldn't stop the tears that were coming. This was all his fault. But right now he had to focus on Mama.

"I want to see Mama." Lance said finally. If Keith was gone, then Mama had to be his priority. He had so much to make up for. Veronica nodded and helped him get out of bed.

They made it Mama's room without incident. Veronica handed Sofia off to Manuel and she and Lance entered Mama's room. Marco and Luis were both at her bedside. She was sleeping, as was Luis. He had fallen asleep holding her hand. Mama looked tiny and frail in that bed, tubes and wires were everywhere and Lance had to fight off more tears. Veronica had told Lance that Laura had taken Isabella and the twins back to Marco and Laura's. Marco looked up at Lance, his gaze like ice. Lance returned Marco's stare with venom.

"Please don't start. Not here." Veronica pleaded softly. Lance squeezed her hand reassuringly. However pissed he was at Marco, he wasn't going to let it affect him being there for his family. Not anymore. Marco was an asshole, sure, but surely even he knew that Mama wouldn't want them to be like this, especially if she was going to... He couldn't even bring himself to think the word. Lance's gaze softened and he noticed Marco do the same. He was surprised when Marco rose from his seat and came over, embracing his youngest brother.

"I'm sorry." was all he said, but the words held meaning. Marco never apologized for anything. He was always right about everything. But Lance still had plenty to say.

"I think there's someone else who needs to hear that more than me." Lance said, more serious than he had ever cared to be in his life. Marco dipped his head in sorrow.

"I know, hermanito." he replied, his voice softer than he usually was. Marco was all rough edges so it was odd to see him in a state like this. Vulnerable and sad. He was like Keith that way. Keith. He felt a pang of guilt in his gut thinking about the man that loved him. The he loved.

"Lance, there's something that you should know." Veronica said. Lance turned to her, expectantly. What else could there possibly be. "Mama... She doesn't any extraordinary measures. She signed a DNR order when this whole thing started." Lance sighed. Of course she did. She always talked about how glorious it would be for her to see Papa again. And soon she would. He nodded out of the sheer fact that he didn't have it in him to respond in any meaningful way. He didn't know how to feel about anything. He just wanted Keith. And he wanted his mother.

"Is she going to wake up?" Lance asked. Veronica and Marco exchanged a glance. Marco was the one to answer.

"They don't know. Everyone is different. She could wake up or not, they just don't know. They have no way of knowing for sure." Lance nodded, thinking.

"I have to go to Keith." Lance said finally. "Mama would want him here." His siblings exchanged another look. "What?"

Marco handed Lance a folded piece of paper. "Luis brought this back with him. It's from Keith." Lance's eyebrows rose in surprise. "We didn't read it." Marco promised. Lance nodded again, taking the piece of paper from his brother. He couldn't imagine not having Keith here when his mother died. He needed him. Lance shoved the letter in his pocket and left the room. He needed to throw up and he couldn't do that in his mother's room. He barely made it to the restroom at the end of the hall, he couldn't make it to the toilet so he threw up in the trashcan before walking up to the sink. He looked like hell, but he rinsed his mouth out under the faucet and then his face. When his hands were sufficiently dry, he pulled Keith's letter out of his pocket and read it intently. He had flown home. He had to go to home. He had to bring Keith back with him.

Lance practically sprinted back to Mama's room, but he wasn't prepared for what he was going to find when he did. In the ten minutes he had spent in the restroom, Rosa had coded. Her DNR had prevented the doctors from doing anything to save her life. Lance's mother was gone. She had gone to be with Papa. The room seemed to move in slow motion. Veronica was sobbing hysterically on the floor. Manuel was holding her. Luis's face was buried in Mama's chest, clinging to her lifeless body. Marco was stonefaced, he couldn't even look in the direction of their mother. Lance stood in the doorway in shock as the doctor told them that he was sorry for their loss and that he would give them some time. He couldn't do this. Lance needed Keith.

****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Keith got out of the cab that dropped him off at his brother's house, extracting his suitcase from the trunk before walking up the hedge-lined drive. He felt a familiar pang of jealousy as he yearned for the life that Shiro had. The dream house and the dream job and the dream guy. He was sure Shiro had never had to deal with any of what Keith was dealing with now. And here he was. He walked up to the front door and rang the bell. It took several minutes, but the door opened to reveal Shiro.

"Keith?" Shiro said as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "It's like two in the morning, what are you doing here?" Keith shifted uncomfortably in the doorway.

"I'm sorry... I know that it's late, but I was wondering if I could stay with you tonight." Keith asked, hopeful. He couldn't go home to the apartment that he shared with Lance. It was too painful. Shiro looked at Keith sympathetically and opened the door wider, gesturing for Keith to come in. He was sure Adam was asleep, still. He made a mental note to apologize to him in the morning.

"Can I get you anything?" Shiro asked, pulling a decanter of whiskey from a nearby side table and pouring a glass for himself.

"One of those, please." Keith said. He was... Exhausted to say the least. Mentally, emotionally, physically. He was wiped. He thought back to Marco's words and fought back more tears. Tears he'd cried the whole flight home. Shiro obliged Keith's request and poured him a glass. Keith took it, muttering thanks and downed the drink in a gulp, the liquid burning ass it went down. He loved the feeling.

"Are we going to talk about it?" Shiro asked gently. Keith avoided eye contact.

"Not tonight." Keith said, silently begging Shiro to drop the subject. "I could use some sleep." Shiro nodded as if he had been anticipating Keith's answer.

"Well, you know where the guest room is." Shiro said warmly. "Leave your bag down here, we can get it in the morning." Shiro picked up Keith's empty glass and his own and disappeared around the corner to the kitchen. Keith took the opportunity to trudge up the immaculately carpeted white stairs. He walked down the hall and turned to the second door on the left, gently turning the handle and letting himself into the guest room. He had stayed her quite frequently. He looked down at the familiar bed and stripped to his underwear before crawling into it and under the covers. He just wanted to sleep forever. This was going to go down as the worst Christmas in history, but he tried to let those thoughts drift away as he settled into a fitful sleep.

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Lance was grateful he had driven his own car to the hospital when he made it home. He had to see that Keith was gone for himself. Keith wouldn't just leave him. He would've understood that Lance was just hurting. Wouldn't he? And he had every right to be hurting, right? Lance pulled up to his mother's house, except... He guessed it wasn't his mother's house anymore. It would be whoever she left it to... Probably Marco or Veronica. Luis was her favorite so that was a possibility. Lance did his best not to break down in tears while he was driving, but now? Well he wasn't driving anymore. 

He told himself to knock it off and switched off the car. He sprinted to the door. The house was dark, no lights on. But that didn't mean anything to Lance, Keith could be sleeping. He turned the key in the lock and bounded up the stairs, three at a time. By the time he got to his bedroom door, his heart was pounding in his ears. He pulled out his phone to call Keith, but it went straight to Keith's emo-ass voicemail. Honestly, he was constantly surprised that Keith had even bothered to set one up considering he barely listened to his messages anyway. Lance prayed that Keith would just be curled up in bed asleep, oblivious to the events of the last twenty-four hours, but when he wrenched open his door, his bed was empty and Keith's luggage was gone.

Lance felt nothing at this point. As far as he was concerned, his brain had been liquified and drained out of his nose because he felt as if he couldn't function on any level. He threw his phone across the room, shattering it. Add it to the list of things he had broken on this trip. Maybe this was all a bad dream. Maybe none of this was actually real. Maybe he was asleep and he was going to wake up to Keith in his arms and his mom would be alive and everything would be the way that it was supposed to be. Or maybe he was crazy. And weak. And maybe he had ruined every meaningful relationship in his life with his inability to exhibit any ounce of maturity. Maybe Keith had been right about Lance all along.

Lance left his own room, he couldn't sleep there alone. He walked down the hall to his mother's room. He hadn't slept there since he was a child, but the thought was the most comforting one he'd had all day and he clung to it like a lifeline. He opened the door gingerly, flipping on the light switch. It was exactly as his mother left it and exactly the way he had always remembered it being. Small, but safe. A queen sized bed, impeccably made, adorned with a violet duvet. Lance crawled into his mother's bed, not even bothering to pull the covers back. He dragged one of the pillows to him and buried his face in it and finally released the tears that had been threatening their revolt since this entire ordeal had begun. This was the last time he was going to cry. After this, this one last breakdown, he was going to fix all of this. He was going to wake up and put his life back together, no matter what that looked like. But first, he was going to sleep. He needed it. When he woke up, this would all have been a dream.


	24. Bridge Over Troubled Water

Keith awoke at his usual time, something Lance always called 'early as fuck'. He considered getting up and returning to his normal routine of going to the gym first thing, but he couldn't bring himself to leave the bed. Instead, he just stretched, feeling the tension in his muscles release. He knew as soon as he left the room he was going to face an interrogation from Shiro about exactly what the fuck was going on with him and that only increased is desire to stay in bed and never leave. He absentmindedly reached for his phone, turning it on for the first time since early yesterday. Notifications galore. Several voicemail messages from Luis and Veronica and one from Marco. Numerous text messages from them and a couple from Pidge. Nothing from Lance. What else had he been expecting? Lance didn't care about him anymore, he had ruined Lance's life, that much he was sure of.

In that moment, he decided that he was going to at least go for a run. The best thing that he could do was get back into his normal routine and pretend that things with Lance had never happened. At least he would be able to avoid it for as long as Lance was still at his mother's. Maybe he could move in with Shiro and Adam until graduation and then he could get a job somewhere far away and never look back. Keith wasn't sure he'd be able to be in he apartment he shared with Lance ever again. Too many reminders of all of the things that he had screwed up.

When Keith finally managed to drag himself out of bed to change into something more conducive to running, he remembered that Shiro had convinced him to leave his bad downstairs and cursed himself for listening to him. He pulled his shirt on and made the trek downstairs. Shiro and Adam were sitting at the table having their morning coffee. Adam was on his laptop and didn't bother looking up at Keith's arrival, something that Keith appreciated. Keith felt a pang in his stomach as he remembered that was something that Lance had always disliked about Adam, his standoffish-ness. Shiro however, looked up from his mug and gave Keith a warm smile.

"Feeling better?" Shiro asked, voice full of consternation. Keith wasn't sure how to answer the question, but he nodded anyway and reached into the cabinet to the right of the stove for a coffee mug. He could feel Shiro's eyes on him, watching for any sign that contradicted Keith's gesture but Keith just went ahead and poured his coffee before adding a ton of sugar. "Are you sure?" Shiro asked again. Keith turned to him, leaning on the granite countertop, shrugging as he brought the mug to his lips. The caffeine seemed to help a little, giving his system the jolt it needed.

"I'm not sure." Keith answered, his thoughts muddled up between his feelings for Lance and his anger at the entire situation. Shiro nodded in understanding.

"Lance called me." Shiro said, his voice measured. "Asking me if you were here." Keith looked up at Shiro, surprised and terrified. Shiro could sense Keith's discomfort, but Keith wondered if he had willfully chosen to ignore it as he pressed on. "Is everything okay?"

"What did you tell him?" Keith asked, avoiding Shiro's question with his own. Keith shifted his weight and saw Adam look up at Shiro expectantly and then at Keith. The pity in his eyes annoyed Keith to no end, but Keith ignored him. Adam wasn't his favorite person on the planet, but Shiro loved him and starting an argument wouldn't be good for anyone.

"I told him that you weren't here." Shiro said calmly, but sounding disapproving. "I assume that's what you wanted? Why you're here? To avoid Lance." Adam coughed in disapproval as if waiting to be invited into the conversation, but Keith was glad that Shiro ignored it because frankly, it was none of his fucking business. Keith nodded, embarrassed.

"Keith, what happened?" Shiro asked, concern returning to his voice. "If you want to stay here, we can talk about it, but if this is just you avoiding your problems... Well you'll only be able to do that for so long. You can't just avoid Lance forever." Watch him. Keith sighed in a combination of annoyance and frustration. He knew Shiro was right. Damn him. But hell, it was worth a try.

"I'm gonna go for a run." Keith said, setting his mug down on the counter and striding over to his bag, rummaging for his workout clothes. Adam made another noise of impatience that Keith could barely hear from the living room. He heard Shiro respond, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. Honestly, he didn't give a rat's ass what Adam had to say. So he changed into his running gear, pulled out his earbuds and plugged them into his phone and took off out the door.

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************

When Lance woke that morning in the clothes he had worn the day before. He was surprised to find that he wasn't alone in his mother's bed. His siblings had all joined him, Veronica was squeezed in between him and Luis. Marco was curled up at the foot of the bed. It reminded Lance of his childhood when they all used to crawl into bed with Mama. Lance's breath hitched in his chest. Mama. She was gone. It hadn't really set in last night because everything seemed to happen all at once, but it was setting in now. Mama was gone. Keith was gone. Lance was alone. Maybe not literally, but he had grown accustomed to Keith's presence in his life and Mama had always supported him no matter what. What was he supposed to do now? He had called Shiro on the way home to ask if Keith was there, he was sure he was. He had called Pidge and Hunk, hell he had even called Allura. None of them had heard from Keith at all.

Lance stretched the best he could without waking Veronica, but he accidentally kicked Marco. He snuck a glance at his oldest sibling, but it didn't seem to have woken him. Lance rolled out of the bed carefully and tiptoed over to the bedroom door. He had to find Keith. Mama was gone, he couldn't change that and as much as he loved his siblings, they didn't understand him the way that Keith did. They wouldn't know how to help him or what he needed. Keith... Keith did. Keith knew how to make all of the pain go away. Keith knew the right things to say or when to say nothing at all. Keith loved him with no conditions or strings and he had ruined that.

As Lance made to walk out of the room, Marco whispered his name. Lance had to fight the need to jump. Lance turned to him instead and mouthed 'Not here'. Marco rose slowly so as to not wake Luis and Veronica and he followed Lance downstairs and into the kitchen. Lance looked around the house, it was spotless. Odd considering none of them had come back until that night. Veronica must have done it before coming up to bed.

"Lance." Marco said carefully as they seated themselves across from each other at the table. "You need to go after Keith." Lance looked at his brother, perplexed by the suggestion. Lance was already making a plan for it in his head, but to hear his older brother say it, well that shocked him. He hadn't even been convinced that Marco like Keith at all.

"Why do you care?" Lance asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You don't even like Keith, you never did." Marco looked away, ashamed.

"I care about you, hermanito." Marco said, still avoiding eye contact with Lance. "I blamed a lot of things on him that weren't his fault. I was wrong for that. Keith did the right thing telling you about Mama. We were the ones that had convinced him to keep the secret from you and honestly, Veronica wasn't okay with that. She was so mad. I heard her and Mama arguing about it all the time."

"But you were." Lance said. "Okay with it. Keeping the secret." Lance could tell he was making his brother uncomfortable questioning him like this, but he didn't care. He deserved answers. He deserved the truth.

"Yeah, I was." Marco admitted. "It was what Mama wanted, who was I to tell her what to do with her own life? She wanted to wait and I sided with her. Veronica was against the whole thing from the beginning. She knew it would turn out like this. And then it just spiraled even more when Keith figured out that we were lying to you." Lance nodded, processing the information. He had spent all that time mad at Keith for his choices, but it turned out that they weren't even his choices. He honestly wasn't even surprised by that. Had he not just been in shock over the whole thing, he probably would have figured that out before now.

"How did you convince Keith to lie to me about it?" Lance asked. Keith usually wasn't someone who was comfortable withholding truth from people. He could sometimes even be brutally honest about it if Lance was being honest with himself.

"I didn't. Whatever I said to him, it didn't work." Marco said, continuing to explain. This confused Lance until the realization dawned on him. The only person that would have been able to convince Keith to keep the secret was...

"Mama." Lance whispered and Marco nodded, confirming Lance's assumption. Lance looked at Marco squarely in the face and for the first time, Marco returned Lance's gaze. There was much sorrow in his eyes, more than Lance expected. Lance buried his face, sighing into his hands before running them through his unkempt hair. "Well, now what the fuck am I supposed to do because Keith is gone and I have no idea where he is." Marco nodded in understanding.

"He loves you." Marco said. "And you love him and that's the most important thing." Lance looked at his brother with tears in his eyes only to see that Marco was crying tears of his own. "You have to go get him. Nothing else matters. Veronica and I will deal with... Everything else." Lance shook his head. He didn't know what the right thing to do was. 

"I can't." Lance said, sadly. "I can't leave you guys now. We need each other." Marco took his brother's hand.

"Lance. We will be here when you get back." Marco said forcefully. "If you wait too long, Keith won't be. Veronica and Luis would agree with me. Trust me on this. Everything else will be okay. You need to get back to Keith and tell him how you feel before it's too late."

"Marco is right, Lance." Luis said as he came into the kitchen with Veronica. "I've never seen anyone look at me the way that Keith looks at you. He loves you so much."

"He looks at you the way Papa looked at Mama. The way he's looking at her right now." Veronica said, softly. Lance was surprised. The one time all of his siblings actually agreed on something and it was about him. They were pushing him to chase a love that Lance wasn't even sure still existed. "Marco and I bought you the plane ticket last night." Veronica said as she pulled a boarding pass out of her pocket.

"It leaves tonight." Marco said, looking at his brother as if silently begging Lance to forgive him. Lance took the ticket from his sister, turning it over in his hands. Lance got up and crossed the room to hug Marco. As he and his older brother embraced, Veronica joined and then Luis. All of their sadness seemed to become one in that moment. They cried as one. They were in pain as one. They loved each other as one. Lance was the first to break the hug.

"I guess I'd better pack then." he said as he took off to his room. Keith wasn't getting away from him that easily.

***************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Keith had decided to join Adam and Shiro for an awkward dinner out at one of Shiro's favorite sushi restaurants. The dinner passed uneventfully and as the three rode home together, Adam and Shiro chatted away about the wedding that they were planning and Keith, once again, felt a familiar pang of jealousy. He and Lance would never have that now. He had ruined any chance of that. He decided that he was going to go back to his own apartment the next day. He wasn't sure how much more of Adam's grudging hospitality he could take. Sometimes, he silently wished that Shiro had stayed with Allura, but he knew that Shiro was never going to be truly happy with her and that he was with Adam, so that would just have to be something that he suffered in silence. If Shiro was happy, then Keith could be happy for him. It wasn't that complicated. If he could do that for Shiro, why couldn't Marco do that for him and Lance? Why had he made Keith the bad guy when he was just trying to do the right thing?

Keith shook those thoughts from his mind as the trio pulled into the driveway of Shiro and Adam's home.

"Keith, are you okay?" Shiro asked as Adam went ahead to unlock the front door. "You barely said three words at dinner."

"What?" Keith said distractedly as his thoughts still lingered on Lance. "Yeah, yeah. I'm good."

"Are you going to tell me what happened with you and Lance, Keith?" Shiro asked again gently as they made their way up the drive. Keith sighed inwardly. He knew he would have to tell Shiro eventually.

"I... I am in love with him." Keith said. Shiro laughed. "We are in love."

"I was wondering how long it was going to take the two of you to figure that out?" Shiro mused as he and Keith followed Adam into the house, hanging up their coats by the door. Keith laughed humorlessly.

"Well, we were in love. I fucked that up." Keith said harshly as he launched into the entire debacle of his experience at Rosa's house. Shiro listened intently, asking for clarification when necessary, but other than that, just letting Keith get everything off of his chest before speaking.

"Keith..." Shiro said sympathetically, looking at his younger brother with sadness in his eyes. "Do you think running away fixed any of that?"

"No." Keith said darkly. "But I couldn't stay there any longer, I couldn't." Shiro appraised him, but Keith recoiled defensively. "Don't look at me like I'm wrong."

"Keith, you had no reason to leave." Shiro said firmly. "None of that was your fault. Lance... Lance needs you. You shouldn't have left him." Keith shrugged Shiro's response off, chalking it up to the fact that Shiro should've just been there and then he would agree that Keith made the right choice.

"Well, if you were there." Keith said, verbalizing that particular thought. Shiro snorted.

"If I were there, then what?" Shiro said. "Would it have changed anything?" Keith pouted, knowing that his brother was right.

"No, I guess not." Keith admitted. He hated that Shiro was right. He shouldn't have run away, but he couldn't go back and change that, he couldn't go back at all. There was no way that Lance wanted to see him now. He had done too much damage their already fledgling and fragile relationship. It was too much, too soon and there was nothing that Keith could do to repair it. Keith stretched out on the couch. This conversation was becoming emotionally exhausting.

"Just think about what I said, Keith. Okay?" Shiro asked before heading upstairs with Adam for bed. Keith stayed on the couch, resolving to try and think about solutions tomorrow. For now, he was content to be his normal, sullen and broody self.

As he started to doze off on the couch, a loud knock rapped on the door sending Keith about a mile outside of his skin.

"I got it." he yelled to no one in particular, hoping that the knock didn't wake Shiro or Adam. Who the hell would be here this late? Keith crossed the living room to the door and opened it. To Keith's surprise, it was Lance.


	25. This Bed's Too Big Without You

"Lance?" Keith said, shock being the only thing that he could feel at this moment. Everything else was numb. What the hell was going on?

"Hi." Lance said again, looking at Keith with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. What was he doing here? How was he here? Keith had so many questions.

"Lance, what are you doing here?" Keith asked, bewildered. Lance looked away sadly, but Keith's resolve just strengthened. "Lance."

"Well, my mom died. And then-" Before Lance could finish his sentence, Keith pulled him into a tight embrace that lasted several minutes. When they broke apart, both boys had tears in their eyes, but before Keith knew it, Lance's lips were on his and a familiar wave of electricity pulsed through him. Lance was here and he didn't hate him and he was kissing him and he had never been happier. Except Lance's mom died. This wasn't right, not yet. Keith pulled back from the kiss and Lance looked confused.

"What's wrong?" Lance asked, puzzled. Keith appraised him, taking his appearance in. He looked exhausted. His hair was a mess. Keith inhaled sharply, blowing the air out through his nose.

"Did you just come here for pity sex, because if that's all you want-" It was Lance's turn to interrupt Keith. Lance's face had flushed in anger.

"You really think that's all this is? You think I got on a plane and flew here just to have meaningless sex with you because my mom died?" Lance asked. The way Lance said it, it really did sound ridiculous.

"You know I have a history of thinking the worst in people." Keith said with a snort. Now the idea was laughable, but neither of them was laughing. "So what are you doing here?" Keith crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Lance expectantly.

"Isn't it obvious?" Lance asked, his tone soft. "I love you. I'm here to profess my undying love and devotion to you because, Keith Kogane, I love you. I am in love with you and I will be the first to admit that I handled all of this kind of terribly. So what do you say?" Lance looked at Keith pleadingly. Keith bit the inside of his cheek trying to resist Lance's charm. "If you don't want to be with me, I get it, trust me, but... Do you really not love me?" That caught Keith's attention.

"Of course, I love you, you idiot." Keith snapped. "I've loved you since I met you. Do I want to be with you? Of course I do. But it's not that easy." Lance raised his eyebrow, unimpressed.

"Why isn't it?" Lance asked pointedly. Keith didn't have an answer for him.

"Because... I mean... I'm me and you're... You. I don't know." Keith spluttered. Lance laughed in amusement.

"If that's the best you can do, Mullet, then I'm going to kiss you again." Lance said, taking a step towards Keith. "And you're going to let me." Lance said in Keith's ear. Lance's breath on his neck caused gooseflesh to take rise on his arms. Keith gasped involuntarily when Lance's lips touched his neck. The spot where Lance kissed him burned with a fire that Keith didn't know that he could feel. Suddenly, Lance's lips were on his and Lance's hand were tangled in his hair and Keith had no idea what was going on.

"Wait... Wait." Keith said breathlessly even though all he wanted to do was keep kissing Lance. Lance raised his eyebrow again and Keith laughed. "Well do you want to keep making out on Shiro's porch?" Lance looked like he was giving the idea some thought until Keith punched him in the shoulder. "That was not a serious question!"

"I know!" Lance protested, rubbing his shoulder. "You didn't have to hit me so hard!"

"Are you two idiots going to come inside now?" Shiro called from the living room, making both of them jump.

"How long have you been there?" Keith asked sheepishly as his face flushed with embarrassment.

"Long enough. Get inside, you're letting the cold air in." Shiro said before disappearing back up the stairs. "And don't make too much of a mess upstairs." Lance and Keith looked at each other and starting giggling like teenagers.

"Do you want to come upstairs?" Keith asked tentatively. Lance grinned broadly.

"I thought you'd never ask."

***************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Keith lead Lance into the guest room and as soon as the door was closed, Lance's lips and hands were touching every part of Keith they could reach. Keith led Lance to the bed, shoving him down on it.

"Well, someone is feeling feisty tonight." Lance teased as Keith pulled his shirt over his head before straddling his lover. Keith ground his hips into Lance's before leaning down and kissing him deeply, the two boys fighting for dominance of the kiss. Ultimately, Lance acquiesced and Keith's tongue flitted into his mouth, massaging Lance's as he slid his hands up Lance's shirt. His hands lingered on Lance's defined abdomen before yanking the shirt over his head and tossing it to the floor. With Lance's shirt out of the way, Keith began to kiss Lance's neck as his hands roamed down his torso. Keith's fingers played around Lance's waistband as his mouth followed the trail that his fingers had laid out for him. As he kissed his way down to Lance's beautifully cut V-line, Keith made quick work of the button that clasped Lance's jeans, yanking them down.

Lance's boxer briefs came down with his jeans and he kicked them off eagerly as Keith palmed his hardened length. Keith admired Lance's cock before teasing it with his tongue. He dragged his lips from the head down to the base before kissing down to his balls.

"Oh my God, f-fuck, Keith." Lance choked out as Keith took one of Lance's balls into his mouth, playing with it gently with his tongue as his hand stroked Lance's erection. He looked up at Lance in satisfaction at his lover's strangled moans of pleasure as Keith took his head into his mouth, his tongue toying with Lance's slit. Keith moaned in pleasure of his own as Lance's hand fisted a handful of his hair. Lance cried out in pleasure as Keith sank down a couple more inches on his cock and hallowed his cheeks. Keith took the rest of Lance's exposed length in his hand before his withdrew his mouth from it with a loud pop. He continued to stroke Lance with his hand as he leaned up to kiss him.

Lance flipped Keith onto his back, pulling off his shorts and boxer briefs in haste. Keith was ready. The desire was there and it was overpowering. He loved looking at Lance standing over him, naked. Lance watched him stroke his own cock while stroking his own. Keith looked at Lance expectantly.

"Lube?" he asked. Fuck. Keith was sure that his only bottle of lube was in his bedside table at home.

"Ah-I don't have any here." Keith admitted. Lance shrugged.

"That's fine, I'll just do this." Lance said seductively, putting two fingers into his mouth, slicking them up. Keith got the memo and turned over to his stomach with his ass in the air, waiting for his lover. Lance kissed Keith's shoulder and down his back as he toyed with Keith's hole, working his boundaries. Keith's body tightened at the sensation, but God. He fucking loved what Lance was doing to him. After a couple of minutes, Lance added a second finger and Keith hissed in pleasure as LAnce moved deeper inside of him.

"I want you." Keith cried out. "Now, I want you now." Lance laughed.

"I want you to beg for me, baby." Lance whispered leaning up to Keith's ear, withdrawing his fingers. "What do you say?" Lance returned to toying with his lover's hole with one finger. It wasn't enough for Keith.

"P-please, baby. Please." Keith said urgently.

"Please what?" Lance said, moving tantalizingly slow with his fingers. "Tell me what you want, baby." Keith whimpered under his touch.

"F-fuck me. Please, fuck me." Keith whispered. "Fuck me, now. Hard." Lance withdrew his fingers completely and Keith was breathless, the absence of Lance's touch was agony. Until it wasn't absent anymore.

Lance slid his cock into Keith slowly and deliberately so. Keith cried out as Lance thrusted into him a few times to find a good rhythm. Then suddenly, his pace was frantic, his hands around Keith's hips, pulling him into each thrust.

"F-fuck me, daddy." Keith said before he could stop himself and Lance stopped, mid-thrust.

"What did you say?" Lance teased.

"Nothing, keep going." Keith demanded. Lance pulled back as slowly and torturously as possible without pulling out all the way.

"Tell me what you said and I will." Lance said. Keith couldn't see his face, but he knew there was a satisfied smirk on it. He buried his face in the covers. Keith refused. "Come on, Keithy. It's just three little words."

"Bite me."

"I like the concept, but that's only two words." Lance said as he pulled his cock all the way out. "Come on. I believe in you." Keith rolled over onto his back.

"Fine, I'll do it myself." Keith said, trying his best to be seductive. He stroked his cock while Lance watched, a hungry look in his eyes.

"That's just not fair." Lance whined.

"You're more than welcome to help out." Keith offered. He leaned up on his knees pulling Lance's head down to him, kissing his lips and then up his jawline "I believe what I said was, fuck me daddy." Keith smirked as a blush of Lance's own creeped over his face and down his chest. Keith had never seen that before on Lance. It was adorable. Before Keith knew what was happening, he was on his back with his legs in the air and Lance was pounding into him again. Keith cried out in pleasure as Lance's cock plunged deeper and deeper into him, hitting all the sweet spots he didn't know he had. As Lance hit his prostate, Keith cried out as he was pushed over the edge of his orgasm, shooting thick ropes of white onto his chest and stomach. Lance followed suit shortly after as he stroked his own cock while Keith watched.

"I think we made a mess." Lance said, mocking Shiro's earlier request. Keith laughed at him and handed him a towel he had used to dry himself earlier to wipe himself off with. "Thanks."

After the two of them were cleaned up, they crawled back into bed, Keith's head on Lance's chest.

"I missed sleeping with you." Lance admitted.

"It was only one night." Keith snorted. He felt Lance tense up.

"I know... Still. I don't want to sleep without you. I couldn't." Lance said, pulling Keith closer to him. Keith had to ask.

"Do you want to talk... About your mom?" Keith asked gingerly, not sure what Lance's response was going to be. He felt Lance shift under him, even though it was dark, he could feel Lance's gaze on him.

"Not tonight. Tonight I just want to be here with you." Lance said softly. Keith didn't say anything, opting to kiss Lance instead. Whatever was going to happen, they would figure it out together. That was the important thing. Keith didn't know how badly he needed Lance until he almost didn't have him anymore. He was never going to let Lance go again.

"I love you." Keith whispered thinking that Lance was asleep already.

"I love you too." Lance replied softly, tracing his fingers over Keith's bare shoulder. This was as perfect as it could possibly be and Keith planned to keep it that way.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Lance woke early the next morning and Keith was snoring softly on his chest. All he knew at that moment was... That he had to pee. Badly. He tried to wriggle out from under Keith's vicegrip, but accidentally ended up waking him up instead. Keith's grip loosened for a moment and right as Lance tried to slide out of it, Keith giggled and pulled him tighter.

"Keith, babe, can you MOVE." Lance said struggling to get free. "I need to pee." Keith's grip just tightened around Lance's torso, his head on Lance's chest. "Dude, don't grip harder! Lance said with a laugh. "You're a buttface."

"Nah." was all Keith said, snuggling closer into Lance as Lance was still struggling to get free.

"Get OFF you nerd." Lance cried as his bladder screamed at him for release.

"Nope." Keith said, face still buried in Lance's chest. Lance sighed in exasperation and then he started tickling Keith in the sensitive spot under his arms. Keith jerked away and moved from cuddling Lance to straddling him, fighting off Lance's tickles.

"Gah!" Lance cried out. "Keith, you jerk!" He finally just gave up and laid there, arms by his head as Keith rested his palms on the bed on either side of Lance, his face hovering over his. Keith laid down directly on top of him.

"Hi." Keith said, a tender look in his eyes and a sweetness to his tone that Lance had never heard before. He sighed, resigning himself to his captor.

"Hi." Lance said softly. "So... I still can't move..." Keith wrapped his arms under Lance and Lance stroked Keith's cheek softly.

"Exactly."

"Fine, what's the price?" Lance asked, his tone business-like. Keith smirked at him.

"What do you think?" Keith asked, eyebrow raised. Lance fought back a laugh.

"You're so predictable." Lance joked and Keith chuckled in response.

"Shut up and kiss me loverboy." Keith said softly. Lance ran his fingers through Keith's hair as their lips met tenderly. Keith broke the kiss.

"Sike! Not gonna let you go." Keith said laughing. "You've been fooled." Lance sighed in frustration.

"Christ." he said, scowling at his boyfriend. The two jumped when Shiro knocked and cracked the door open.

"If you two are done, breakfast is ready." Shiro said making an obvious attempt to block whatever he thought was going on. Keith flew out of bed as the door closed, elated at the mention of food.

"Yes! Shiro, you are my savior!" Lance cried out as he followed Keith out of bed and pulled on a pair of shorts. "I'm free!" He left a dying of laughter Keith as he ran to the bathroom to relieve his bladder. Keith might have always said that Lance was going to be the death of him, but now, Lance was thoroughly sure that Keith was going to be the death of him. And he was going to love every minute of it.


	26. Everybody's Cryin' Mercy

Keith squeezed Lance's had as they drove up to the funeral home. It was several days after Lance showed up on Shiro's doorstep to get Keith back and now they were leaving their safety bubble to attend Rosa's funeral. Lance hadn't cried yet, at least not in front of Keith, but after the first night, they had went back to the comfort of their own apartment. Lance welcomed the change of moving into Keith's room, but Keith had a harder time with it. Not that he didn't want Lance to move into his room, but it was going to take a lot of getting used to. Keith was just glad that he had the space for all of Lance's things. The only thing that he had put up a fight with was about Lance's television. He'd always had a strict 'no TV' rule in the bedroom. Even then, Lance eventually acquiesced and left it in his old room. Still, he had slept with Lance every night at his mother's house, but this is what made it feel real. They were living together. Not just as roommates, but actually living together.

Lance had avoided every mention of his mother's funeral up until the point where they were getting off of the plane, waiting for Marco to pick them up. Even then, Lance said nothing in the car with Marco and Keith and that worried Keith. Rightly so. Only a couple of weeks ago Lance had hurt himself, Keith was right to be worried, wasn't he?

Lance squeezed Keith's hand back and gave Keith a look. Keith found it hard to decipher, but nonetheless, he was here. Marco had been surprisingly welcoming when they got off the plane considering their last interaction on Christmas morning. Keith decided that was more likely than not due to his mother's untimely end and wasn't sure how long it was going to last. He wasn't going to push his luck, he was here for Lance and that was all. And he wanted to say good bye to Rosa. She was an incredible woman.

Keith was distracted from his thoughts by the car door opening. Keith watched as Lance got out of the car, but Keith was gripping the steering wheel, knuckles white. He wasn't good with funerals, not since his dad's.

"Keith, you coming?" Lance asked. He sounded tired, and Keith knew he was. Neither had been getting much sleep and not for lack of trying. They hadn't had sex since that night at Shiro's, mostly because when they made it home to their apartment, Lance had spent every night crying himself to sleep in Keith's arms. Keith didn't mind. It's what he was here for.

"I'll be right there." Keith said, taking a deep breath. This wasn't for him, it was for Lance. Do it for Lance. Finally, Keith mustered the will to get out of the car and join Lance. Lance's hand was warm in his and he gave it a reassuring squeeze. Keith appraised him in a way he hadn't since they had landed the night before. Keith had never seen Lance in a suit before. Under different circumstances, Keith would've told him that he looked hot in his all black ensemble, but now wasn't the time. "Are you gonna be okay..?" Keith asked. Lance was avoiding eye contact with him so he could only assume that it was because he was about to cry.

A noise of grief escaped Lance and Keith pulled him back. "Hey." Keith said tenderly, pressing his forehead to Lance's. "You can do this." He whispered as a tear track glittered down Lance's cheek. Lance nodded and Keith kissed him gently before they resumed their walk up to the funeral home's front door. Keith opened the door and led Lance inside. Keith was surprised by how many people were there already. Keith had told Pidge, Hunk, Allura and Shiro the place and time assuming that they wouldn't be able to join them. Keith shouldn't have been surprised that all of them showed up for Lance anyway.

Hunk pulled Lance into a wordless hug. Shiro gave Keith a small smile. Adam followed behind Keith, murmuring his condolences to Lance while avoiding Keith all together. Keith preferred it that way. Allura pulled Keith aside as their friends converged on Lance. Keith looked in Lance's direction, silently afraid that all of the attention was going to overwhelm him.

"How is he doing?" Allura asked, he could tell that she was concerned and he knew that she cared, but he just couldn't have the conversation right now. The last thing that anyone needed was an outburst from Lance, most importantly, Lance didn't need to freak out. Not today. Not here, at least. He could freak out all he wanted when they returned to Rosa's house, but here? Here Lance needed to be the picture of calm.

"Allura, I can't now, I'm sorry." Keith said, he really was sorry, but he didn't have time for idle conversation when Lance was starting to look overwhelmed. Allura looked disappointed, but dipped her head in understanding. Keith didn't have the time or patience to assuage anyone else but Lance. He kept his distance as he watched them, figuring Lance would find him if he needed him.

Keith turned when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Veronica. She gave him a warm smile that he returned. Her make up didn't fully hide the fact that her eyes were red and puffy, but she was keeping herself composed with a level of grace that Keith had come to expect from her. She held Sofia close to her and Keith could tell it was all she could do to keep herself from falling apart and her daughter was the driving force behind it.

"How are you holding up?" Keith asked, genuinely concerned. Veronica sighed, shaking her head.

"It's... It's been hard honestly." Veronica said, but she looked ashamed, like she shouldn't be admitting that she didn't actually have everything together. "There's so much to do, the restaurant, the house. This." Veronica looked away, biting her lip in what Keith was sure was anxiety.

"I know." Keith said, patting her shoulder sympathetically. "I was young when my dad died, but I remember feeling lost and confused for a long time." Veronica nodded slowly.

"I think that's where we'll all be for a while." Veronica admitted softly, shifting Sofia on her hip. "I didn't get a chance to say this, but Keith, I am so sorry for the way that my family has treated you-"

"Veronica, you do not have to apologize to me." Keith said firmly and he meant every word. "Your family was going through something unimaginably hard and everyone handles grief differently. We're good. I promise." Veronica teared up at Keith's words, kissing him on the cheek. He blushed in embarrassment at the contact, but was happy his relationship with at least one of Lance's siblings was on solid ground.

"Actually, Marco mentioned that he wanted to talk to you today." Veronica said carefully as if broaching a forbidden topic. Keith flinched. He had no real desire to talk to Marco on his own, but he was sure that nothing worse that what had already been said could come from it.

"I'll keep that in mind." Keith replied halfheartedly. "I'm not sure if it's a good idea if we're in the same room alone." Veronica grimaced.

"I know. There's a lot to hash out." Veronica said. "But it looks like Lance is looking for you." she pointed to Lance who was looking visibly distressed. Keith rushed over to his lover.

"Lance, babe, what's going on?" Keith asked, his hand on Lance's back. Lance jerked away from him.

"I couldn't find you, I looked, but I couldn't find you." Lance said, his voice panicked as he clutched Keith's arm. Keith rubbed his back trying to soothe him.

"I'm right here." Keith said softly, "I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere." Lance broke down in tears at Keith's words, eliciting stares from the surrounding mourners. All that did was piss Keith off. Hadn't they ever seen someone grieve before? They needed to mind their own business. He had to get Lance outside into fresh air. "Can I fucking help you?" Keith fumed at the shocked onlookers. "This isn't a circus sideshow, back off." Shiro appeared at Keith's side.

"Keith, it's okay." Shiro said trying to calm him. "How can I help." Lance was still clutching Keith's arm and crying, oblivious to Keith's outburst.

"What the fuck are you all staring at?" Keith snapped again.

"Keith, snapping at everyone isn't going to help." Shiro chastised his brother. "What can I do?" Keith looked at Shiro with fury in his eyes that slowly burned away when he looked into his calm ones.

"Help me take Lance outside." Keith said, resigning himself of his fury. "He needs air." Shiro nodded and together, they guided Lance outside.

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************

The three of them remained outside for the entire service. Keith had made several attempts to try and persuade Lance to return to his family, but he refused. Not wanting to leave him alone, Keith stayed outside with him. As guests poured out of the building, they turned their heads granting the trio piteous glances and Keith wanted to rip all their fucking heads off. Nosy fucks.

Shiro was the only thing keeping Keith in check. He would glance at Keith in warning, silently daring him to say anything to anyone outside of the normal pleasantries. For Lance’s sake, Keith was sticking to the script but if he had to endure anymore fake smiles from people that didn’t seem to know Rosa or the McClains at all then he was going to snap.

Lance gripped Keith’s hand life his life depended on it and Keith thought he was losing circulation in his fingers, a small price to pay for Lance’s sanity. Before Keith knew it, the rest of the guests had departed, and Marco and Laura joined Keith, Lance and Shiro on the steps of the funeral home. Followed by Pidge and Hunk. Then Allura. Veronica and Manuel. Laura and all the kids. Keith knew that Lance was surrounded by people that loved him and that, for some ungodly reason, made Keith feel alone. But this wasn’t about him, it was about Lance and his family. Finally, Luis joined the rest of the group and the four McClain siblings huddled around each other.

Despite Keith’s nonverbal protestation, Shiro led him away from the McClain family’s intimate moment as they grieved for their mother. Keith leaned against Lance’s car, arms folded across his chest.

“You’re gonna crease your suit.” Shiro said as he walked over. Keith snorted, that was the least him his problems.

“I’ve been sitting on steps for two hours, I think that ship has sailed.” Keith deadpanned.

“It was a beautiful service.” Allura remarked sadly as she walked up to Shiro and Keith. Shiro shifted uncomfortably. Their relationship never really recovered after Shiro broke up with her to be with Adam. Allura walked away, blushing hard. Shiro, for his part, looked equally embarrassed, especially as Adam joined them by the car.

“How’s Lance doing?” Adam asked, sounding genuinely concerned for the first time since Keith had known him. Did he actually… Care? Keith tried to shrug it off, but he eyed Adam, intrigued.

“As well as we can expect, I guess.” Keith mumbled, looking over at Lance as he talked with his siblings. A little ways away, Laura ushered Luke and Liam into their truck. He watched as she called for Marco and he hugged all his siblings and made his way over to his wife. He watched Laura kiss her husband tenderly and hug him. He looked away, embarrassed. He felt like he was intruding on an intimate moment that he didn’t deserve to be a part of. Veronica followed suit as Manuel led Sofia and Isabella to their own vehicle. Soon enough, Lance left Luis in the care of his girlfriend and made it over to Keith and Shiro.

“Hey, babe.” Keith said softly, totally unsure of what to say at all. “Are you ready to go home?” Lance nodded. Keith was stationary and Lance looked at him expectantly. Keith returned the look, but it was one of confusion. “What’s up?”

“You’re blocking my door.”

“Oh, sorry babe. I thought you were gonna drive.” Keith said offhandedly. That was stupid. Lance hated driving.

“Really?” Lance said, his eyebrows raised. Keith blushed, Lance knew he was lying.

“No, I dunno.” Keith said. “I’m sorry. Just tired.” Lance nodded in understanding as Keith moved out of his way, opening the door for him.

“Yeah, I feel that.” Lance said as he got into the car. Keith felt a pit of sadness in his stomach. Keith walked around the car, giving Shiro a one-armed hug before getting into the driver’s side and starting the car. Lance gave him a quick kiss and then they were on their way home.

Later that night, Lance and Keith laid in bed. Lance was snoring, as usual, but Keith was wide awake. He just couldn’t sleep. The house was sure to be awkward over the next few days as all of Lance’s siblings had temporarily moved in just to feel the closeness of their sibling bond. Keith stretched in his spot, careful not to wake Lance. He rolled forward so that he wouldn’t have to climb over Lance to get out of bed and he climbed over the foot of the bed and snuck out of the room.  
As Keith snuck down the stairs and into the kitchen, he was surprised to find that Marco was at the kitchen table, cradling his head in his hands.

“Marco? Are you okay?” Keith said. Marco jumped. Keith assumed that Marco had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn’t heard him enter the kitchen.

“What? Yeah. Hey Keith.” Marco said. “How’s it going?” Keith knew the question was meant to be harmless. Small talk. But it was loaded in such a way that Keith knew that he was too distracted to get wrapped up in the implications.

“I guess about the same as everyone else.” Keith said softly. Marco nodded, raking his fingers through his hair.

“Yeah. That’s fair.” Marco said. He was clearly uncomfortable with Keith’s presence and he could understand why. And then he remembered that Veronica had said that Marco wanted to talk to him.

“Veronica said you wanted to talk to me.” Keith said, gauging Marco’s reaction.

“Yeah.” Marco said looking Keith squarely in the eyes. “I need to… I want to apologize to you. For everything that I said. I was… I was pretty terrible to you. I blamed a lot of things on you that weren’t your fault. I know that you were just trying to protect Lance. It was just different than the way that we were trying to protect him. I was just trying to do what was right. What I thought was right.”

Keith nodded in understanding. “I’m sorry too.”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for.” Marco said, regret in his eyes.

“I do.” Keith admitted. “I shouldn’t have said anything to Lance, it wasn’t my place.”

“No.” Marco said. “You’re the love of Lance’s life. If it was anyone’s place, it was yours.”

Keith was shocked by Marco’s admission and his apology. It was odd to think that he had reached an understanding with the McClain sibling that he had assumed like him the least. Maybe that wasn’t the case. Maybe he and Marco just didn’t understand each other. Keith was saddened by the fact that it took an event like this to bring Keith and Marco together. Marco reached over and gave Keith a one-armed hug and Keith kind of seized up, unsure of what to do. Once he was released, he skipped up the stairs like a cat before crawling back into bed with Lance. Even though he was asleep, Lance seemed to sense Keith’s presence because he rolled over, wrapping his arm around Keith’s torso and burying his head in Keith’s chest.

Keith looked at the time on his phone because he felt like it was much later than it should be. He was right. It was one fifty-two on December thirty-first. New Year’s Eve. He had totally forgotten. How did you forget a whole new year? He knew that Lance would have a plan for their adventure for the night and Keith also knew that he was going to need plenty of sleep. Hopefully when they got up the next morning, Lance would feel a little bit better. At least, that’s what Keith was praying for.


	27. Get Up, Stand Up

Lance spent the day running around like a chicken with his head cut off preparing for his and Keith’s housewarming slash New Year’s party. No matter how much Keith tried to slow him down, he was on go one hundred percent, full throttle. There were no breaks, no safety belt and no rulebook. Honestly, Keith was surprised that Lance was still going at this point because by the time eight o’clock rolled around, Lance had run himself ragged.

Keith had been shocked by Lance’s decision to keep their housewarming party small, less so by the fact that Lance had used some of the money that his mother had left him to book a VIP section at his favorite club. The money was just the tip of the iceberg Keith had learned. Lance had been shocked to discover that Rosa had transferred primary ownership of the restaurant to him, but Keith was happy for him. He saw it as an opportunity for Lance to grow and to learn and Lance had always been excited about the prospect of running his parents’ restaurant and adding to their legacy in his hometown. He was already drawing up plans for an expansion and his siblings had shown palpable interest in his ideas with growing the business. The restaurant did well enough that they had plenty of startup to open a new restaurant right off campus. It had been a lot of discovery for only a day.

Keith and Lance had already made appointments to look at open properties after the New Year. Keith was just happy that it gave Lance something to focus his energy into. This Lance was different than the one he knew from their freshman year. But Keith had changed a lot too in the past few weeks. It was crazy to think about how much their lives had changed already.

Keith, admittedly for the first time in, well… Forever, was looking over his outfit for the night in the floor length mirror that Lance had moved over from his room. Lance had declared shortly after he moved into Keith’s room that Keith’s outfit selections for events were now all under a strict Lance approval rule effective immediately. Keith thought Lance was just being ridiculous, but he indulged Lance’s quirky request anyway. If this was all it took to keep Lance happy (he knew full well it wouldn’t be) then it was something that he could live with. Keith was just happy that Lance had seemed to semi-return to normal. He looked over his ensemble again, fitted black dress pants, a black shirt with red trim and a red bowtie. He hated bowties, but Lance thought Keith looked good in them, so he allowed this concession this one time. He slipped into the black dress shoes that Lance had bought for him and wiggled his toes in them ensuring that he had adequate room to breathe. Everything fit perfectly, of course. When it came to clothes, Lance had a crazy-accurate eye.

“You look hot as fuck.” Lance whispered in Keith’s ear, wrapping his arms around his waist. Keith covered Lance’s hands with his own, turning into Lance, placing a gentle kiss on his neck. “You still need a haircut though.” Keith snorted, pulling his hair back with an elastic band and brushing his bangs out of his eyes. “Still though, hot as fuck.”

Keith turned to face his boyfriend and appreciated the fact that he was fresh out of the shower and wearing only a beautifully fitted pair of blue and white boxer briefs. Keith ran his hands down Lance’s taut chest and felt Lance shiver under his touch. Keith looked deeply into Lance’s eyes as his right hand wandered below Lance’s waistband. Lance caught his hand, clucking his tongue.

“Naughty, naughty, Mullet.” Lance purred in his ear. Keith gave a half-smile and tried to wrench his hand free enough to continue its journey, but Lance wasn’t having it. “I have to get dressed, babe.”

“Says who?” Keith said defiantly, cocking his eyebrow. He laced Lance’s neck with searing kisses before journeying to his soft, pink lips. He pushed into tongue into Lance’s mouth and was surprised by Lance’s lack of resistance. “For someone who has to get dressed, you seem much more interested in making out with me.”

“It’s not my fault that I have a ridiculously hot boyfriend who just happens to be excellent at making out.” Lance tried to defend himself.

“Let me show you what else I’m good at.” Keith whispered seductively, feeling Lance’s cock twitch in anticipation as his hand ran over the bulge in his briefs. A delicate whine escaped Lance’s lips and Keith took it as his cue to keep going. “We can kick everyone out, stay in tonight.” Lance’s breath grew ragged under Keith’s touched and Keith loved every second of it… Until Lance’s resolve steeled itself and he withdrew from Keith’s touch.

“As much as it pains me to say this… We can’t cancel now.” Lance said weakly, clearly torn between having a private night in and throwing the bash that he had already planned. “Besides, we have a hotel room with all kinds of treats planned and then I booked us a surprise that you’re going to love.”

“That I’m going to love, huh?” Keith said skeptically. “We’ll see about that, won’t we?” Keith tried to make another move on Lance, but he escaped from Keith’s clutches.

“No! Bad Mullet!” Lance shouted exaggeratedly, running out of the room. “How did you end up being the horndog out of the two of us?!” Keith laughed, but follow him out of the room.

“Just hurry up and get dressed before I force you out of those.” Keith said, eyeing Lance’s ass as he bent of the couch to grab a stray sock that had tried to escape his grasp and then smacking it as his boyfriend walked by. As per usual, Lance gasped, his signature faux-scandalized look forming on his face.  
“I am not just a piece of ass for you!” Lance shouted. “I am a strong independent woman who don’t need no man!” Keith snorted in amusement.

“Well, I’d hope you’re not a woman,” Keith called back, “Because then I wouldn’t be interested.” Lance looked at him, bewildered.

“Keith, you’re gay?!” Lance shouted. “Why didn’t you TELL me?!” Keith laughed. He was really starting to enjoy these silly moments with Lance. He appreciated them in a way he didn’t before. But maybe that’s because now he understood Lance better than he thought he would ever care to. He loved Lance McClain and he didn’t care who knew it. He’d scream it off the Mount Everest if he thought it would make Lance happy. Turned out that it was far easier to make Lance happy than Keith ever could’ve dreamed. All he had to do was wake him up with kisses, let him be obnoxious and fall asleep wrapped up in each other.

“Lance, hurry up! You’re gonna be late for our own party!” Keith called into their bedroom. He walked into the room expecting to find Lance admiring himself in the mirror, but instead found him looking at a picture of his family when he was his younger, tears in his eyes. Keith sat on the bed next to him, resting his chin on Lance’s should and scratching his bare back the way that he liked.

“You wanna talk about it, babe?” Keith said softly. Lance shook his head as he admired the photograph. He kissed Lance’s shoulder, hoping that Lance found it comforting. Lance turned into Keith and kissed his lips gently, tracing his fingertips down Keith’s cheek.

“I just love you.” Lance said sweetly. Keith pressed his lips more firmly to Lance’s.

“I love you.” He said with a small smile. Lance smacked Keith’s thigh gently.

“I guess I should probably get ready for real this time.” He sighed, looking at the clothes he had splayed out on the bed. Keith eyed the clothes that Lance planned on wearing and then loosened his bowtie before unbuttoning his shirt.

“Or we could just cuddle for a while.” Keith suggested. That idea sounded much better. Besides, company wouldn’t really be over until ten anyway. It was still only eight thirty. Lance nodded and Keith wriggled out of the rest of his clothes, laying them carefully over the back of his desk chair to avoid a scolding from Lance. Keith raised him eyebrows in surprise as Lance looked him in the eyes and slid out of his underwear with a mischievous grin. Keith followed suit, kicking his boxer briefs away and crawling on top of his lover, showering him with kisses. Keith reached his hand between Lance’s legs, stroking his rapidly hardening length.

“Tch-I thought you said w-we were only cuddling.” Lance moaned in pleasure at Keith’s delicate touch. Keith smirked at Lance’s words.

“You really only want to cuddle with your very naked boyfriend?” Keith asked suggestively. Lance looked in Keith’s eyes and Keith stopped what he was doing, tracing his fingers back up to Lance’s cheek. Keith nodded in wordless understanding and laid his head on Lance’s chest, right over his heart. Naked cuddling. Got it. Keith would just have to seduce Lance later. And he planned to, but for now, this was more than perfect.

************************************************************************************

Lance’s (and Keith’s) bash was in full swing by ten thirty. Lance looked around the room and grinned at his handy work.

“So you and Keith finally happened, huh?” Lance heard a voice next to him and turned to see Pidge sidling up to him. “I knew it.”

“Yeah, Keith told me about that bet, you little gremlin.” Lance said laughing. Pidge scowled at him.

“Yeah, Hunk owes me dinner for a month for that one.” Pidge said proudly. Lance shook his head. He had to give it to Pidge. She was incredibly perceptive, frustratingly so. “Still. It suits you both.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” Lance said, a small smile gracing his lips. Pidge made a hacking noise.

“Don’t push your luck, loser. You got one compliment out of me and you’re already over the limit.” Pidge quipped. Lance shook his head at her, marveling how he had ever become friends with this glorious asshole before him. As he contemplated that thought, Hunk clapped him on the shoulder before pulling him into a bear hug.

“Hey, buddy.” Lance said, smiling up at the big guy. “You look nice, dressed up for Shay?” Hunk was wearing a black suit and a sunflower yellow tie that looked surprisingly good on him considering Hunk had never really cared for the color.

“Yep, she’ll be my midnight kiss if I’m lucky.” Hunk replied nervously as Shay caught his eye. He blushed a harsh shade of red. Lance could tell how nervous Hunk was, but he knew his friend had no reason to be. He already knew Shay was into him and even she wasn’t, Hunk was a great cook and just a decent guy in general. She would be hard pressed to find somebody that would treat her better than Hunk would.

“Go get her, big guy.” Lance encouraged him, “She won’t be able to resist.” Pidge snickered at Lance as Hunk made his way over to Shay. They watched as they dove deep into conversation.

“Look at you, playing matchmaker.” Pidge teased. Lance rolled his eyes at Pidge’s comment.

“Everyone deserves the chance to be in love.” Lance said as he watched Keith converse with Allura and her new boyfriend, Lotor, across the room.

“God. I’m getting away from you before you make me vomit, McClain” Pidge cracked, joining in a conversation between Shiro, Adam and her own brother, Matt. Keith must have looked over and seen Lance alone because he was at his side in an instant.

“Do you need another drink?” Keith asked, kissing Lance’s cheek.

“I’m okay.” Lance replied, he felt like he meant the words in a way that Keith hadn’t asked.

“I know you are.” Keith said softly, kissing Lance’s lips. “We should probably get going if we want to make it to the club before they give our spot away.” Lance jumped up immediately. He had been so content that he had almost forgotten! There was no way tonight was going down without lots and lots of drunken debauchery. He gave Keith a quick kiss on the lips before gathering everyone in the living room.

“Hear ye, hear ye.” Lance crowed, with a grin as he looked out at his friends.

“Get on with it, Lance.” Pidge called to him. Lance flipped her the bird earning chuckles from Hunk and Matt.

“I have an announcement to make! The second stage of this little party will be hitting the road and heading to Nerve!” Lance said, gracing them all with a bow and a flourish. 

As their guests began to exit, Keith hung back.

“Do you have to do everything with such…” Keith started, but hesitated, unable to find the right word.

“Suave. Finesse. Perfection?” Lance offered. Any of those would be perfect adjectives to describe him.

“Drama.” Keith said flatly. “I was going to say drama.” Lance clapped his hand over his mouth in horror.

“You wound me!” Lance cried. “Words hurt, ya know Mullet.” Keith scowled at Lance and took his hand as they exited the apartment and walked over to the elevator. Keith kissed Lance’s cheek as they got in and Lance started to giggle.

“What.” Keith said. “Is so funny?” Keith was giving Lance some serious side-eye trying to figure out what Lance was laughing about. And then Lance released the fart he had been holding in and started laughing uproariously.

“You…” Keith said, wrinkling his nose at the smell. “Are disgusting. You’re a disgusting human being.”

Lance responded by leaving a sloppy, wet kiss on Keith’s cheek. “But you love me.”

“I might be regretting that.” Keith quipped. “Chalk it up to poor decision making on my part.” They continued to bicker the rest of the way down to the car, but as soon as they into it, they were making out like teenagers. Lance wouldn’t mind if they spent the rest of their lives this way, but for now they had a party to get to.


	28. Sanctuary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the conclusion! I hope you guys like as much as I enjoyed writing for you!

By the time the group arrived at the club, there was a line at the door. Lance smirked as he and Keith got out of the car, handing the keys to the valet and practically skipping to the bouncers. Keith followed him to the door, rolling his eyes at Lance’s antics. But he had to admit, Lance looked great. Dressed to the opposite of Keith, Lance was wearing white. White pants and a white shirt with blue trim and a blue bowtie. His hair was slicked back as opposed to the usual messy style that he displayed and it gave Keith the overwhelming urge to ruffle it.

“What?” Lance asked curiously. Keith thought back to everything that he and Lance had been through in the last few weeks. All the pain and suffering, but also all of the good things.

“Nothing.” Keith said gently, smiling at his boyfriend with all the love he could muster. “I just love you.”

“Who knew you would turn out to be the real cheeseball.” Lance cracked and Keith rolled his eyes.

“Who knew.” Keith repeated snarkily and Lance giggled. Keith pulled Lance into him, wrapping his arms around Lance’s waist.

“Are we going in or are you guys going to have sex out here?” Pidge joked as she walked up to the club.

“Can it, Pidgeon.” Lance snapped, grinning sheepishly as they approached the bouncers. One by one, the group entered the club. Keith was amazed at the sophistication of it, he had to admit. The room was sparsely decorated but tasteful. None of the garish strobe lights, Keith was grateful for that. Still, this wasn’t much more to his taste either. Still, Lance looked happy and that’s all that mattered.

As expected Lance headed straight to the dancefloor, taking Hunk, Shay, Allura and Lotor with him. Keith hung back by the bar, watching Lance from a distance while Adam and Shiro reclined at their VIP booths.

“Can I get you something?” the bartender asked, breaking Keith’s focus was watching Lance in his element. Keith saw the first genuine smile from him that he had seen in a long while and he loved it. “Which one’s yours?” he asked with a smirk. Keith looked away bashfully, cheeks flushing. Keith had to admit thought, the bartender was cute. He would’ve went for him if Lance wasn’t all his.

“Uh, the one in white.” Keith said, grinning. The bartender bowed his head.

“Respectable choice, he’s hot.” The bartender observed. “Sucks for me though, cause so are you.” He set a whiskey on the bar. “On me.” With that, he turned to customers that were on the other side of the bar. Damn right his Lance was hot. Keith drained the glass and then made his way down to Lance. Lance looked surprised to see him on the dance floor, but pulled him into him nonetheless.

“Keithy!” Lance exclaimed excitedly. “On the dance floor already?!” Keith rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah.” Keith groaned. “I just wanted to be close to you, is that so wrong?” Keith eyed Lance expectantly.

“Cheeseball.” Lance dragged out the word and Keith laughed into the kiss that Lance planted on his lips. Keith decided to put aside his inhibitions and gave into Lance’s not so subtle hints that he wanted Keith to dance. And it was… Fun was too strong of a word to use for something that he didn’t like do and wasn’t very good at but, for Lance, he would do it anytime, anywhere. That’s how Keith knew that he was in love with Lance. He had this insatiable desire to know that he was happy and to do anything within his power to keep him that way. Lance deserved whatever he wanted, even if Keith would never admit that that to him.

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************

“What’s up, Mullet?” Lance asked after scanning the room and tracking down his loner boyfriend.

“I don’t know how you have the stamina for all the dancing that you try to force me to do.” Keith said, shaking his head at Lance. Lance tutted at Keith and he returned the favor by rolling his eyes.

“What can I say.” Lance replied. “It’s an artform.” Lance climbed onto the bar stool next to Keith and Keith laid his head on Lance’s shoulder.

“Are you having fun?” Keith asked, kissing Lance’s cheek. Lance could tell that Keith was worried about him, but Lance had deliberately kept his drinking to a minimum tonight. It was hard to be excited about ringing in the New Year when Mama wouldn’t be a part of it. He shrugged in response and Keith gave a sympathetic sigh. The vibe in the club had significantly cooled down with only a thirty-three minutes left until midnight.

As much as Lance had been looking forward to being out tonight, now he was filled with the overwhelming desire just to be home with Keith. Spending the last moments of the year sounded a lot more special when he thought about spending it with the one person that was keeping him together through all of the insanity that had occurred within the last month. He was still having a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that his mother had only been gone for six days. He knew he would just have to take it one day at a time and those days were easier to take when he had Keith.

“I’m having fun.” Lance said finally, leaving a gentle kiss on Keith’s lips.

“But?” Keith asked as if he had read Lance’s mind.

“But, I was sitting here thinking.” Lance began. Keith raised his eyebrows in concern.

“That’s a dangerous thing for you to do.” Keith quipped. “Are there any functioning brain cells left up there.” Lance stuck his tongue out at Keith and Keith giggled.

“Shut it, Kogane.” Lance growled. “I was thinking and I would just much rather spend the rest of the last night of the year at home with you.” Keith nodded.

“I was hoping you would say that.” Keith whispered in Lance’s ear. Lance looked into Keith’s eyes for a moment before they wordlessly got up and made their way to the exit.

“You just wanna Irish goodbye them?” Keith said with a smirk.

“Is that a problem for you?” Lance asked, eyebrow raised. He knew what the answer was before he even asked, but still.

“Not at all.” Keith said as they exited the building into the brightly lit street. Lance was surprised that it was snowing now, it hadn’t been in the forecast, but it was only a light dusting so far. Just enough to make everything sparkly white. It was beautiful. And then, an idea struck Lance.

“Keith.” Lance said and Keith turned towards him, puzzled.

“Yeah?” Keith barely got the word out of his mouth before Lance’s lips were on his, Keith’s scent overwhelming Lance’s senses. Lance was oblivious to any and everything else. Lance felt Keith slip his tongue into his mouth and he massaged it with his own, his hands tangling in Keith’s hair. They spent several more seconds making out on the sidewalk before they broke apart.

“That was some kiss, Ace.” Keith said, a light flush creeping over his cheeks. Lance took Keith’s outstretched hand as Keith pulled out his phone to call for an Uber. The snow… The snow just made everything beautiful. Keith looked up at Lance dreamily and Lance smiled his signature crooked half smile back.

“I have something to tell you.” Keith said. “Remember at the beginning of the year when I applied to the police department? I got in.” Keith grinned broadly.

“What?!” Lance was all of the sudden overwhelmed with excitement at this revelation. Keith had studied for months for the test and nearly wet himself before the interview because he thought his background would hold him back. This was amazing news. “Babe, I am so proud of you.” Lance kissed Keith with such force that he leaned back. Lance swung his arm around Keith to keep him from slipping, turning it into a dip instead. They leaned back up as they broke apart and Keith beamed at him breathlessly.

“I start training at the academy after graduation, so I’ll have my degree too and then we can open your restaurant up here and everything… Everything is falling into place.” Keith said, smiling. Lance noticed a sad glint in his eye though and he knew that it was because he was worried about him.

“It is.” Lance said firmly. “And this is something we should be celebrating. So, when we get home, we ae going to celebrate. Naked. I’m going to take off all your clothes and do very bad things to you.”

The uber pulled up right at that moment and Keith chose not to respond verbally to Lance’s suggestion but instead, Lance noted, decided to place his hand strategically on Lance’s thigh for the entire car ride home, not speaking or moving a muscle. The anticipation was killing Lance by the time they pulled up to their apartment building.

They barely made it inside before clothes were coming off. Lance was kissing Keith’s neck with such ferocity that he was almost scared he was going to leave marks there in the morning. Keith practically ripped Lance’s button up shirt off of him and was working on his belt when Lance stopped him.

“What’s wrong?” Keith asked, breathless. Lance could tell he was getting frustrated at the interruption but, call him sentimental. It was eleven fifty-seven and he didn’t want to miss the clock hitting midnight.

“We have to wait until midnight.” Lance said stubbornly as a strangled sounding whine left Keith. Keith straddled Lance as he sat on the couch and Lance calmly and rationally shoved him off. Keith huffed and sat crosslegged on the couch next to him, pouting as he crossed his arms over his chest. Lance looked at him out of the corner of his eye and started to laugh.

“Really?” he said. Keith glared at him.

“It’s not funny.” Keith snapped. Eleven fifty-nine.

“It’s almost midnight.”

“Hmph.” Twelve.

“Babe?”

“What.”

“Happy New Year.” Lance said, grinning at Keith. The pout faded from Keith’s face and he returned Lance’s smile, climbing into his lap, covering his face with kisses as he unbuttoned his own shirt. Lance tossed it aside as Keith shrugged out of it.

“We’re in for a hell of a new year, Ace.” Keith whispered, kissing Lance’s lips.

“I’m counting on it, Mullet.” Lance whispered back, returning Keith’s kiss with another as he stood, holding Keith up by his thighs as Keith wrapped his legs around Lance’s waist. Lance carried the smaller man to the bedroom and tossed him down on the bed. Keith looked up at him seductively. If this how he was going to start the new year, he had no reasons to complain. If anything, he was looking forward to the journey ahead and thanking God for having Keith by his side while they trekked on. With that they made love into the night, but they had both accepted one thing. One of them was going to kill the other, but they had saved each other. Everything was going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for giving me the immense joy of writing for you. I know that my writing isn't the best, but I was planning out a sequel to this in my head as I was writing the last chapter. I don't want to ruin a good thing, but if you guys wanna read it, then I wanna write it. Thank you for all of the love that you have given. I love these characters that we have all been blessed with and I look forward to your feedback!


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